Psychedelics?

One of the reasons I had gotten a checkup at the doctor’s last week was to see if he could give me something to help me sleep through the night.  I haven’t really slept good for years with everything going on with Piper as I was usually up multiple times a night checking on her.  Then with her passing, I now find myself falling right to sleep as soon as my head hits the pillow only to wake up throughout the night and not being able to close my eyes again for an hour or more each time!

So, I got a prescription and he told me to call him if there were any problems.  I took the pills for a week but still found myself waking throughout the night, although maybe not as often.  Then I started having some of the weirdest dreams as well as flushing during the day!  Therefore, I called in yesterday and he sent another prescription to my pharmacy. 

When I got the text from the store, Fiver and I drove out to town and the CVS car pick-up window.  Then we returned home where I put together some lunch.  While I ate, I decided to read the fact sheet on the new drug… and Wow!  Piper and I might have been children of the 60’s and ‘70’s but we never did the drug scene!  The potential side-effects and warning label on this prescription read like something you would have heard at a speech on psychedelic drugs by the late clinical psychologist Timothy Leary!  Sleep walking, sleep driving, memory loss, drowsiness, dizziness, feeling like you’ve been drugged, flushing, panic attacks, nausea… and the list goes on and on!

Well… needless to say, that caught my attention!  I looked over at the dog sitting on the floor next to me and burst out laughing!  All I could say was “Whoa!  Whoa!  I definitely ain’t gonna touch that stuff!”  After reading that information, I figured that I would rather miss a few hours sleep than feel like I was lost in space.

That whole eye-opening adventure got me to thinking about the basic truths of scriptures like Proverbs 3:5 where we are encouraged to “Trust the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.” (God’s Word ©)  In our daily walk it is way too easy to forget the simplicity of the Word and ho it intricately intertwines with every facet of our lives… if we allow it to!

An important fact of what I went through with the attack on the health of the one most dear to me on all the earth, was the importance of staying focused on the answer.  What answer you might ask?  The answer to what medical science declared about Piper’s situation and all the effects it would have on the caregiver, their finances and just about every other area of their lives touched by such a catastrophic event?  Or, the answer given throughout the New Testament epistles as given to those who have yielded their lives to Jesus Christ and take hold of all that He provided for them as described by the Pauline Revelation?

Since Piper’s homegoing, I have been spending a lot of time looking back over the last ten years, and I continually find myself amazed at the amount of concentration God gave us in order to stayed hooked on what we believed to be the truth in the Word of God and not be distracted by the worlds view of our situation.  And I am even more amazed when I take an actual inventory of all the ways that God prepared us for such a challenge.

I’ve thought about the different physical moves around the country, Bible College, strong Word teaching churches, new friends and renewed acquaintances with extended family members who took the time to get to know, care for and personally minister to Piper and I in the midst of their own busy lives.  And then there were the various doctors in three different states as well as all the other medical professionals who may not have always understood us but nevertheless acknowledged the validity of our beliefs and our stand of faith.  Then of course, there were all those unknown individuals who stopped us in the store, in various parking lots, and along the sidewalks of town to give an encouraging word, reach out and touch Piper or even ask if they could help me to maneuver Piper in and out of the car.  I’ve learned that God is always there for us as long as we stay there for Him! 

Yesterday’s incident with the sleeping pills helped me to come back to what helped us through the last chapter of our lives.  It’s all about a dependence and trust in Him and not some chemical substance or worldly way to deal with the tough times in life.  I’m not saying that there aren’t things out there that can help along the way of life… I just want to make sure that HE is the one telling me what to do and not my own understanding of the situation or that of someone else’s who is not really in tune to our needs and/or the things of God concerning us!

Have you ever been there?  Well… I for one, choose to make sure that I am still focusing on the Word and God’s directions for me as I have ended one large and long chapter of my life and enter into a new one!

Have a great rest of the week, and as you do, say with me… “I am expecting to continue to follow God’s Word and His plan for my life!”