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God’s Word Works!
By Janine Scott-Lowe, MD
Proverbs 15:1: A soft answer turns away wrath, but harsh words cause quarrels.
Don't you love it when a Scripture can be practically applied in your life and you see how it worked in your situation? Well, this Scripture was definitely REAL to me recently.
I walked into an exam room, and was met by a hostile, irate parent. She was the mother ot a patient that I had seen a week earlier. The patient was still involved in a workup and was being seen for followup. The mom had been frustrated because her daughter continued to experience various symptoms. She had been seen by miltiple providers by the time she came to see me, and mom was pretty frustrated. You know what this reminds me of? The woman with the issue of blood who had seen and spent money on many doctors for her healing before she finally went to, and got healed by, Jesus. Now, I'm NOT EVEN CLOSE to Jesus, but I was just thinking of the similarity. Maybe that woman was really frustrated as well, as her infirmity had been going on for YEARS, rather than just a few WEEKS? But, I digress...
When I was met by the mom's reaction, I had a CHOICE to make. Was I go to "rise up with her" and argue back at her, probably worsening the situation, or was I going to try to remain in control and help her daughter in any way that I could? I chose the later. I kept my cool, and spoke to her calmly. This approach worked, as the mom eventually calmed down, and I was able to evaluate her daughter and arrive at the cause of her illness. Of course mom was happy by the end of our interaction that her daughter was going to be well, and I was just happy (and proud) to have made it through the visit without losing my temper.
I am THANKFUL for the Spirit of God and the FRUIT of the Spirit that grow in our lives each day. My fruit of PATIENCE, PEACE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, GENTLENESS, and SELF-CONTROL were DEFINITELY SQUEEZED by this patient's mom, and I'm glad that she found them to be RIPE and FRESH, and NOT ROTTEN and STALE.
May God always remind us of opportunities when we can put His Word to practice, thereby showing others His Presence in our lives. May we be not only HEARERS of the Word, but DOERS as well.
God Bless You!
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Janine Scott-Lowe, MD is a Family Physician who practices in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, taking care of the soldiers and family members of the famous 82nd Airborne Division. She has two beautiful daughters, Kendall and Katrina.
You can find more articles and information about Janine's books on her website:
http://www.hishandsextendedonline.com.
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