Trials and Temptations
James 1:2-7
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
This verse has become one of my favorite verses because of the trials I have had! The way I was 10 years ago I should have had a nervous breakdown and I seriously considered ending my whole life, but God intervened. About a year before that happened I was having a kidney stone removed from my right kidney and what should have been a routine procedure turned out to be a situation that the urologist told me I thought you were not going to make it during the night after my surgery. Before I went to the O.R., I went to the bathroom and 5 minutes later I started to spike a fever that eventually got up to 106.8 and then everybody started to attend to me. I had to go to recovery before I went to surgery; they put A-lines in me and the charge nurse said to everybody, "I am going old school and placed ice bags all over me." The O.R. staff asked my wife to step outside because it was getting scary, and I looked into her face and I said, "I will see you later," and she told me, "You're going to be okay." I also looked into the faces of those O.R. staff that I knew because I worked in the same hospital as them. All of the staff that knew me said, "You are going to be okay once you get the stent placed in your right kidney to help get rid of the infection and feel better," but they all had that worried look in their eyes because they all knew me and were all so worried for me. I knew at that moment that I might die, and I prayed in my mind for God to get me through this—I mean, I prayed like I have never prayed before! When I went to see my urologist two weeks later, I asked him what happened to me once they gave me anesthesia and I left the SICU and went to a regular room. My urologist, Dr. Puig, told me that he called the SICU the next day just to see if I had survived the night! Dr. Puig said to me, "If I had been older, I would not have survived the night!"
In 2016, I experienced a similar experience like my near-death experience. I had been home recovering from my 5th surgery and I started shaking, and my wife saw already knew what to do and called Rescue, and they rushed me to the hospital. I was septic and had a severe infection. I went to ICU, and I was there for 2 days and stayed in the hospital for almost a week. Again, God spared me because he has a purpose for me, and I just surrendered totally to him and said, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" I learned that verse that is above and I learned to have blind faith and believe and stay rock steady and have perseverance! I don't worry about my enemies, the haters, the critics, the naysayers, the haters, and all of those negative people throughout my life because I have faith in the Lord that has gotten me through it all will get me through this storm and the next until that day he takes me up to his Kingdom and go to Paradise!
James 1:2-7
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
This verse has become one of my favorite verses because of the trials I have had! The way I was 10 years ago I should have had a nervous breakdown and I seriously considered ending my whole life, but God intervened. About a year before that happened I was having a kidney stone removed from my right kidney and what should have been a routine procedure turned out to be a situation that the urologist told me I thought you were not going to make it during the night after my surgery. Before I went to the O.R., I went to the bathroom and 5 minutes later I started to spike a fever that eventually got up to 106.8 and then everybody started to attend to me. I had to go to recovery before I went to surgery; they put A-lines in me and the charge nurse said to everybody, "I am going old school and placed ice bags all over me." The O.R. staff asked my wife to step outside because it was getting scary, and I looked into her face and I said, "I will see you later," and she told me, "You're going to be okay." I also looked into the faces of those O.R. staff that I knew because I worked in the same hospital as them. All of the staff that knew me said, "You are going to be okay once you get the stent placed in your right kidney to help get rid of the infection and feel better," but they all had that worried look in their eyes because they all knew me and were all so worried for me. I knew at that moment that I might die, and I prayed in my mind for God to get me through this—I mean, I prayed like I have never prayed before! When I went to see my urologist two weeks later, I asked him what happened to me once they gave me anesthesia and I left the SICU and went to a regular room. My urologist, Dr. Puig, told me that he called the SICU the next day just to see if I had survived the night! Dr. Puig said to me, "If I had been older, I would not have survived the night!"
In 2016, I experienced a similar experience like my near-death experience. I had been home recovering from my 5th surgery and I started shaking, and my wife saw already knew what to do and called Rescue, and they rushed me to the hospital. I was septic and had a severe infection. I went to ICU, and I was there for 2 days and stayed in the hospital for almost a week. Again, God spared me because he has a purpose for me, and I just surrendered totally to him and said, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" I learned that verse that is above and I learned to have blind faith and believe and stay rock steady and have perseverance! I don't worry about my enemies, the haters, the critics, the naysayers, the haters, and all of those negative people throughout my life because I have faith in the Lord that has gotten me through it all will get me through this storm and the next until that day he takes me up to his Kingdom and go to Paradise!
