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by Dan Jones, M.D.
Nehemiah 2:4-8
The king said to me, "What is it you want?"
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it." Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, "How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?" It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.
I also said to him, "If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe conduct until I arrive in Judah? And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?" And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.
What a lesson Nehemiah has for us in this passage. He was faced with the difficult situation of needing to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He was living as a subject to a foreign king who had all authority over that part of the world including Jerusalem. He had no money, no permission to travel, and no construction materials.
So Nehemiah, after ,confessing his sins and praying for God’s assistance, went to the king and asked for permission to travel to Jerusalem, asked for letters of safe travel through enemy territory, and boldly asked the king to supply the timber to build the gates and walls from the king’s own forests. How difficult was that? Nehemiah could not have liked the prospect of asking his captor for help, but with God’s guidance, he was able to humble himself and make the request.
It is hard for most of us to ask for help, especially from an enemy. It requires a great deal of humility to acknowledge we need someone’s help. I believe it is particularly hard for health professionals to ask for help. Our training prepares us to be self-sufficient. Our professional environment makes it particularly easy to have large egos. Asking for help is often seen as a sign of weakness.
I’m reminded of a very humbling experience early in my career. I was only a few years out of training. Because of my recent training, I was often called on to consult on patients with the most challenging problems, especially in our intensive care unit. One day I was admitting a patient to the hospital with all the signs and symptoms of meningococcal meningitis. The patient had the classic rash. She was desperately ill. As I proceeded to perform the necessary lumbar puncture prior to initiating antibiotic therapy, I was frustrated by my failure. After three unsuccessful attempts, I was faced with the decision to begin antibiotics without the useful cultures from spinal fluid. My pride made it difficult to call for help, but I knew the standard of care dictated I get spinal fluid for tests. It was hard to make that call to my obstetrician friend to ask him to do the lumbar puncture. But I knew his daily experience performing epidural anesthesia on his patients in labor would likely give him a better chance of success. On his second attempt, he was successful. The diagnosis was confirmed. The antibiotics did their work and the patient had a full recovery. Calling for help is not easy, but in difficult situations, it can be God’s way of solving the problem – and keeping us humble.
Lord, protect me from pride. Allow me to call on others for help when needed to do your will in a difficult situation.
Dan Jones, M.D., MACP, FAHA, a board-certified Internist, a former medical missionary to Korea, professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Dean of the School of Medicine, and Chancellor of the University of Mississippi until 2015. Dr. Dan Jones is a member of CMDA.
Dr. Jones welcomes any comments or questions about what he has written and can be reached at - djones@umc.edu
Rounds with the Master, Spiritual Pearls from the Great Physician Devotionals are released every Monday and Thursday.
Photo by Neil Thomas on Unsplash
