Emphasis Preaching Journal

What a fantastic insight! We are no longer slaves, but children of God! What possibilities that unleashes in each of our lives. I have a friend who had kidney stones recently. If you've ever known anyone who's had a stone, they will tell you it's one of the worst pains you will ever experience. My friend was at work when this violent, stabbing pain hit his lower back. At the hospital, he was given pain medication, but it didn't help much. He couldn't lay down; he couldn't sit up; he couldn't lay on his side. It was the most miserable night he ever spent. Early that next morning, some young doctor, maybe an intern, came into his room and said, "You need to get up, jump up and down, run around, and pass that stone." My friend was dumbfounded. His pain was so severe that there was no way he could even move. An older Spanish woman was mopping the floor. The years had not been kind to her; she was overweight and much too old to be doing heavy janitorial work, but when she heard that young doctor say, "Jump up and down, run around," her head snapped up and she blurted out, "Doctor, have YOU ever had a kidney stone?" They were both so amazed that she would interrupt their conversation, they just stared at her. She looked at my friend and said, "Son, get a doctor that's had a kidney stone," and disappeared back into mopping the floor. My friend realized that she took a great risk blurting that out, but she restored his belief in his own common sense. We are not slaves; we are children of God, empowered by God's own spirit.
-- Owen-Gemoets