An Eye in the Eye of the Storm

Let’s start with this accurate account of what happened on February 15, 1922, at Kane Summit Hospital in New York City. A doctor is performing an appendectomy. Here’s the account of what happened that day by Paul Harvey.

“In many ways, the events leading to the surgery are uneventful. The patient has complained of severe abdominal pain. The diagnosis is clear: an inflamed appendix. Dr. Evan Kane is performing the surgery. In his distinguished thirty-seven-year medical career, he has performed nearly four thousand appendectomies, so this surgery will be uneventful in all ways except two.

"The first novelty of the operation? The use of local anesthesia in a major surgery. Dr. Kane is a crusader against the hazards of general anesthesia. He contends that a local application is far safer. Many of his colleagues agree with him in principle, but to agree in practice, they must see the theory applied.

"Dr. Kane searches for a volunteer, a patient willing to undergo surgery under local anesthesia. A volunteer is not easily found. Many are squeamish at the thought of being awake during their surgery, and others are fearful that the anesthesia might wear off too soon. 

"Eventually, Dr. Kane finds a candidate. On Tuesday morning, February 15, the historic operation occurs. The patient is prepped and wheeled into the operating room. A local anesthetic is applied. As he had done thousands of times, Dr. Kane dissected the superficial tissues and located the appendix. He skillfully removes it and concludes the surgery.

"During the procedure, the patient complains of only minor discomfort. The volunteer is taken into a post-op room and then placed in a hospital ward. He recovers quickly and is dismissed two days later. Dr. Kane had proven his theory. Thanks to the willingness of a brave volunteer, Kane demonstrated that local anesthesia was a viable, and even preferable, alternative. 

"But two facts made the surgery unique. I’ve told you the first was the use of local anesthesia. The second was the patient. Dr. Kane was the courageous candidate for surgery. To prove his point, Dr. Kane operated on himself. The doctor gained the trust of his patients by becoming a patient and convincing them that local anesthesia was a better alternative than general anesthesia. That was a wise move.”

This story may be hard to believe for some, but I double-checked, and it's true. Just think for a moment. This physician healed himself. He was willing to put himself, his life, and his reputation ‘on the line’ to show others that the pain would be minimal and the outcome optimal. 

Max Lucado explains. “But the story of the doctor who became his own patient is mild compared to that of the God who became human. But Jesus did. So that you and I would believe that the Healer knows our hurts, Jesus voluntarily became one of us. He placed himself in our position. He suffered our pains and felt our fears. 

Rejection? He felt it. Temptation? He knew it. Loneliness? He experienced it. Death? He tasted it. Stress? He could write a best-selling book about it. Why did he do it? One reason. So that when you hurt, you will go to him, your Father and Physician, and let him heal you.” Got the message? 

Jesus empathized with humankind, which is much more than sympathizing with humanity. Empathy is the ability to understand and share another person's feelings, while sympathy is feeling sorry for someone going through a hard time. There's a vast difference there.

The doctor put his life where his beliefs and convictions were. He didn't get mad or frustrated with the squeamish people. He went through the operation himself to show them a better way. He empathized with the patients and then did something about it.  

The same is true with Jesus, and much more so. Jesus knows how we feel and how to get us through it. The scripture says in Hebrews 4:15: "For we have no superhuman High Priest to whom our weaknesses are unintelligible – Jesus himself has shared fully in all our experience of temptation, except that he never sinned." Most humans think it's easy for God to be in heaven. After all, God's up there and doesn't know what it's like down here. 

Not true. Jesus was here and understands what it is like to be human. Notice the words in the verse. “Jesus himself. Not an angel. Not an ambassador. Not a politician, but Jesus himself. Shared fully. Not partially. Not nearly. Not to a large degree. Entirely! Jesus shared fully. In all our experience. Every hurt. Each ache. All the stresses and all the strains. No exceptions. No substitutes.” (Max Lucado). Why? So, he could empathize with our weaknesses and keep us in the eye of life's storms. 

Here's your takeaway. Maybe you are going through a storm right now. Perhaps you think God is aloof and doesn't care about you. Stop. Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Bible. God didn't put out the fire in the furnace. He just put Jesus in the furnace of fire with them, and they came out unsinged and without smoke. It's not about God stopping all the things that look bad. It's about Who's in there with you.