“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will be able to abound in every good work”
(2 Corinthians 9:8).
After a brief vacation I was looking forward to going back to work as a registered nurse in a Nursing Care Home. During seventeen years of happy service, I had forged strong friendships with staff and patients. So what happened that morning came as a total shock. Without any preamble, the director of nursing care told me, “You no longer have a job.”
I was stunned.
And yet, in a sense I’d seen it coming. For the past three years I had felt pressure from the administration to retire, but I’d dismissed their not-so-gentle hints with a shrug. Didn’t everybody past fifty-five get that? I loved my nursing job and my patients and I intended to work another three years. When I felt ready to retire, I would say my goodbyes and gently close that chapter of my life and begin another one.
Life Lesson: Biblical perspective on the end times
Experience It: Walk in the power of the Holy Spirit
But the door had slammed shut involuntarily.
I felt it was so unfair! On my trips to town I would speed past the once friendly place and think, I don’t care if I ever set foot in that place again. Immediately a sadness would wash over me. Do I want to finish a most rewarding nursing career with bitterness and resentment?
No way! For the past weeks I had been learning about grace: how grace meets an unfair situation with forgiveness and goodwill. Here was my opportunity to practice what I had learned. But what could I do? Well, I could walk back into the nursing home and invite all the nursing staff – including the nursing director – to a potluck dinner at my home. At the very least, it would end my term of service in a more congenial way. You can be sure my heart pounded as I walked into the home to post my invitations, but I’m so glad I did.
On the appointed day, sixteen people crowded into my small home each bringing a dish of delectable food. Soon the room resounded with laughter at good-natured nurse jokes. As I looked into familiar faces and listened to the cheerful chatter, my heart warmed. In the many goodwill wishes I received that evening, I sensed a note of ongoing friendship.
My retirement from nursing didn’t come the way I had envisioned, but truth is, it brought a blessing I might have missed: an opportunity to see the grace of Jesus at work in my nursing colleagues and in myself.
Lord Jesus, show me the good that is hidden in each difficult situation and by Your grace help me to work it into something that will glorify You. Amen.
Related Links:
A Work of Grace:
http://www.retirementwithapurpose.com/inwrkgrace.html
About the Author
This article was written by Helen Lescheid. You can read more about this author by clicking this link:
http://www.talk.thelife.com/helen-lescheid/
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