By Brad Doskocil
Being a patient in the hospital is a helpless feeling. As I write this, I am in the hospital being treated for numerous injuries. The most severe injury is an infection in my right foot and the fourth toe of my right foot.
As a patient, I am dependent on the attending physicians. The nurses and staff carry out the physicians’ orders, including blood tests, ultrasound exams, MRIs, and the administration of medicines and food.
Physicians examine data and make diagnoses and treatment recommendations. It is essential that they tell the truth about my injuries and treatment options.
Not every diagnosis is made immediately. It takes time to gather data and analyze the evidence, including changes in the data as treatment occurs. So, diagnoses take time and do not happen all at once. Often, our understanding of God’s Word happens in the same way. It is like peeling back an onion!
Based on a physical examination, a tissue sample, and an X-ray, the podiatrist diagnosed my toe as being infected down to the bone. An MRI later confirmed this diagnosis.
Based on this evidence, the podiatrist presented two surgical options regarding the infected toe. One approach was to try to save the toe. This would involve scraping away all visible infection from the bone and tissue. However, this approach would inevitably leave some bacteria behind, which could later grow and cause additional infection and potentially greater loss. Another obstacle was the deterioration of the toe’s skin, which would impede the ability to sew up the wound.
The other option was to amputate the toe. This procedure provided the most excellent assurance that infection would not return.
After hearing the medical evidence and looking at my toe, I believed her. I knew her assessment was correct. The podiatrist told me the truth and presented the evidence. Now I can only count to nineteen!1
We are all sinners and helpless before God. We are injured, yet we often overlook this fact. But God always tells us the truth! His Word is truth (John 17:17). Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). God gives us truth to guide us. He gives us evidence to convince us to believe Him, just as the podiatrist gave me medical evidence.
God is infinitely more trustworthy than a physician because He is perfect. So, we should always believe what He says, even when His message is unpleasant.
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Brad Doskocil is a CPA in Long Beach, CA, and the Chairman of the GES Board.
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1 Brad left out the fact that he had a dangerous blood clot in his left knee and that he had two different infections in his right foot, even after the amputation of his fourth toe. He was in the hospital for two weeks. This was a very serious situation.
