I received a call over my headset of a newly admitted young man getting very angry with one of the doctors on staff. I responded and made it to the doctors office to find the young man visibly upset.
Being only a couple of days into his treatment the young man was in opiate withdrawal and had also reinjured his knee the day prior. He wanted, more like demanded, that the doctor give him something stronger then ibuprofen.
The doctor was not budging, she refused to give him the very drugs he was in rehab to get help getting off of. I was doing everything in my power to try and calm the young man down, but his annoyance escalated into cursing at the female doctor.
It was then that a staff member from the clinical team and myself calmly escorted the young man out of the room and away from the doctor.
I sat down near the young man, whom I already had established a small rapore with, just outside the office as he began calling me some choice words in continued frustration.
I continued to speak calmly and let him know I was there to help while letting him know that he couldn’t aggressively cuss out doctors, especially female ones.
He slowly started calmly down as he vented some more frustration and encountered a calming presence. I then asked him, “Can I walk you back to your room?” He agreed as he limped back to his room with me, his room was just down the hall.
Once he made it to his room I asked him a simple question, “I got a question for you buddy?” He looked at me much calmer and replied, “Sure, what’s up?”
“Would you be ok with me praying for you right now? I just want to pray for your knee, and for your treatment to go great while your here,” I told the young man.
He looked at me and his eyes watered.
He paused and shared, “I’ve been taking pills since I was 13 and I’m 22 now. The only time I have been able to be free from this addiction that I hate was for a couple of years when I was praying and going to church. I need that back in my life. Yes, please pray for me.”
Before praying I shared with him how terrible my 13 years of addiction were and how a relationship with God radically transformed my life. I then prayed a simple prayer for him to come to know God, for his treatment to go great, and for Jesus to completely heal his knee.
My shift was about over so I exited his room, and before leaving I tracked him down some crutches.
The next morning I arrived at work and upon seeing this young man he came up to me and said, “Hey, you got a second to chat?” I said, “Sure, what’s up?”
He started by saying, “This might sound crazy,
but my knee has not hurt one bit since you prayed for me.” I smiled from ear to ear and said, “That would be the work of Jesus, and if He can do that to your knee with one prayer imagine what He could do to your life if you talked with Him everyday?”
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It doesn’t take a gift to know that the forces of darkness are hard at work in the lives of those that struggle with addiction. But combating frustration with more frustration, or anger with more anger doesn’t get rid of the real problem.
The weapons that dismantle the strongholds of the heart are kindness, wisdom, patience, truth, peace, love, and an ability and understanding in how to partner with and demonstrate the power of God.
You see, the Gospel is show and tell or tell and show. Everywhere Jesus went He shared the Gospel in word and in displaying the love of God through His redemptive power.
We might be the only Bible that someone ever reads, and it’s my prayer that we demonstrate Gods unending love and invincible power in our daily lives.
Who can you love today?
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Erik Frederickson is Life and Recovery Coach. He has clients all over the world and he is considered an expert at helping people transform their life in powerful ways.
Contact Erik HERE - info@recoveringreality.com
Sign up for 7 days of FREE online Recovery Coaching HERE
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