Even There

 "Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." Psalm 139:10

    One of the perks of being a senior is having a colonoscopy.

    Of course, I am speaking facetiously since the entire procedure (for me) is akin to having a hood placed over my head as I am led to the gallows. Yes, yes, I know it's for my benefit and all that, but I am a coward when faced with all things medical.

    To enlighten those who may not have participated in this experience, the preparations leading up to this rather odious screening of one's colon involves a gradual weaning of the very sustenance that keeps one alive, that is food and water, so that, in the final six hours, not even an ice chip may pass one's lips. 

    So, it was in this very weakened, sleepless condition that I entered the doors of the endoscopy clinic. Upon arrival, a cloud of angst settled 'round me like a raiment of doom. It didn't help matters when the receptionist quizzed me about having a "Do Not Resuscitate" order on file. By the time I was ushered behind the curtain, fear had so fully engulfed me that I timidly asked the nurse in a thin voice, "How many people have died on the table in this place?"

    She calmly assured me of the rare occurrence of that particular danger. As she turned my right arm to administer my IV, she commented on my tattoo which bears the reference of my life verse, Isaiah 41:10. "So do not fear," I began to recite, "for I am with you..." The nurse smiled in full acknowledgment, assuring me she also knew that verse. 

    Ah, the words of the Lord that are "sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb" (Psalm 19:10) coursed through my veins, bringing His strength and peace. The Holy Spirit within reminded me to "Consider Him who endured such opposition." Thoughts of my Jesus, who went forty days and nights without sustenance in the desert of temptation, was tended by the angels when it was all over. I knew He tended to my needs as well. 

    Is God present in an endoscopy clinic? Yes! Even there. I can attest to it.

    Feeling much better the following day, I opened my Bible and randomly selected a Psalm where David's words, penned to God while in the Desert of Judah, became my own:

"You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you. I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips I will praise you. On my bed I will remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I will sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me." (Psalm 63: 1-8)