Life Lessons from the Tube

So here's the deal, and this is not easy for me to admit, but I'm seriously claustrophobic. You see I have this tough guy image I try to maintain and admitting to fear is a huge blow to my ego, because I don't really allow fear to be a driving force in my life. If you read my post yesterday you know I was going to have an MRI. To a guy who is claustrophobic, being crammed into a tiny tube for forty minutes for an MRI, is maybe one of the worst places on earth to be. I'm a big guy too, so it's tight in that tube made for tiny people.

I've had four MRI's now and every one of them has been horrible, and frankly I have been dreading the MRI more than the upcoming surgery. So I decided to pray my way through this event and trust God to carry me through. So I get there and of course they stuffed me in the tube, and I do mean stuffed, so I closed my eyes and began praising God and praying for anyone and everyone. For the first 25 minutes I was fine because I was really talking to God. There was literally zero fear for the first 25 minutes. 

Then for some reason my attention went away from God, and on to me, and the minute that happened, I felt a rush of fear pour over my body that made me want out of that tube more than anything I have ever wanted in my life. My heart rate went off the charts and I had chills all over my body, and every part of me wanted to scream at the tech to get me out of that tube. But instead I just took some deep breaths and started focusing back on God and asking him to help me past this, and over the next few minutes my heart rate went down and the fear left, and I was able to finish.

I have never had an event in my life that gave me a clearer understanding of what it means to lose my focus on God. I walked away from that MRI understanding better than I ever have what it means to keep God first in every thought and action in my life, and what the consequences are when that focus slips.

Isn't it funny how God uses situations like this to teach you something you really already know, but He wants you to understand at a deeper level. How much could my life and ministry change if I would just learn to keep focused on Jesus. With so much going on around us in the world, it's so easy to lose that focus, but when your trapped, it always becomes so much clearer how much we need Jesus.

Are you trapped, are you living in fear, do you feel like you're stuck in life's MRI tube, maybe the answer is as simple as just focusing on Jesus again. It worked for me!

John

Comments

[Larry Boatright]

great post! Praying for you bro!

[Rindy Walton]

I haven't been online so just catching up--and what perfect timing--I needed to hear this one today. Different situation, same reaction--thanks for helping me to see it.

Praying for all that lies ahead with your back too!

[Randy Bryan]

Great post. MRI's are horrible for me too. Um I had a nurse hold my hand most of the time. I was in an 'open mri' and you can barely stcik your hand out.