They Said It Was Minor Surgery, Except…

I had surgery the other day and they called it Minor Day surgery. I would have agreed except for two things. They had to put me to sleep to perform the surgery. Somehow that did not seem minor to me. The other thing was that they made me sign a form acknowledging that I might die. Well, it was not phrased exactly like that, but that was what I got out of it. That also seemed a little beyond minor surgery. Or maybe it was major surgery before the fact, and minor surgery now since I survived it.

But I did think about a few life questions from this “minor” surgery.

The Doctors kept using phrases like “as you get older” and “you’re not a kid anymore.” And that’s true. Even if I live to be very old, and even if I remain in good health, I do not have an unlimited number of years left to do things. So I want to make the best use of what time I have left. I want to make a difference in people. I want to do things that will matter years from now — even centuries from now. Am I making a real difference in people’s lives is a good question for all of us to ask.

Another thing I realized is that we are all going to die. It may be in a hospital, or a car wreck, or in a natural disaster, or maybe of old age. But we are going to die. Which leads to other questions worth asking: What happens then? What about my family and friends? Is this all there is?

And of course I realized that I am not in control. The truth is that I am not in control of very much anyway. I cannot control the weather, world politics, or other people. So if I cannot control things, and you cannot control things… who can?

I like having answers much more than just having questions.
Of course, it is easier to think about questions like these when you have already found the answer. I have known the answer to these questions since I made the decision to die with Jesus so I could live a new life forever. If you want to visit more about answering these questions in your life, write me at steve@hopeforlife.org or join the blog discussion at www.hopeforlife.org.

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