Set Your Mind Above

Episode #85 - When We Can't Do Anything...He Can

October 28, 2021 Season 1 Episode 85
Set Your Mind Above
Episode #85 - When We Can't Do Anything...He Can
Show Notes Transcript

Our son had a severe reaction to penicillin that landed us in the ER late last night.  Our poor son was all swollen and covered in a horrid rash from head to toe, compltely miserable. As I sat there holding him, I felt terrible as there was nothing I could do to fix it. I love my son, and if I could have even taken his place I would have. Well...isn't that exactly what Jesus did for us? He saw our sinful condition, and through the cross on account of his great love for us he took our place. Now we are healed because he was sacrificed. Priase be to God for his great love!

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Welcome back to all of our listeners! I’m BJ Sipe, and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above podcast – where everyday ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths. I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in today, I am excited to share my life and my faith with you, and I sure hope that you’ll do the same with me along the way. 

At this point if you’ve been listening regularly to the podcast over the past few months, you are well aware of all the crazy health issues that we have had with our son. We’ve dealt with a broken leg, strep, infections, all kinds of stuff – the kid just can’t seem to catch a break. Well, the saga continues, but in a way that nearly gave Kylie and I a heart attack last night and taking a trip to the ER at 2 am. But let’s back up a little bit to give us some context. Last week Dane developed a very high fever, up to about 103.5 – and all we could come to a conclusion on with the doctors is they thought it was some kind of viral infection. As such, they prescribed him amoxicillin and he has been taking that for the past 5 days and seemed to be doing just fine. Well, yesterday he started developing rash like bumps on his legs. As the day progressed, it started to spread across his chest, arms, armpits, neck, face, head, and ears. We really didn’t know what was going on – our pediatrician was closed, the walk in clinic was closed, and the urgent care had 1 nurse with 7 people ahead of us. We finally took him to see a dear friend who worships with us & is a nurse, Christi Leber, who looked him over and was able to rule out several things to help put our minds at ease. Kylie left thinking that maybe it was chicken pox, but we just weren’t sure. Thinking nothing of it, we gave him his medicine like he’d been taking and put him to bed. Well, around 1 am, he woke up and when we went to get him our hearts leapt right out of our chests. Our poor son’s face was all distorted, his eyes nearly swollen shut and cheeks puffy. The rash now looked something like burns all over his body, it was horrifying. We immediately called my mother who walked us through signs to look for if he was having difficulty breathing. Thankfully, he wasn’t demonstrating any of those and appeared to be breathing okay – but that could change any minute. After he started vomiting, we decided we were not going to wait around for the pediatrician in the morning – we needed to act now. We gave him Benadryl & Kylie took him to the Emergency Room where thankfully they got right in. The doctor took one look at him and said, “Oh, your son is having an allergic reaction to penicillin.” We were dumbfounded. He’s had amoxicillin before and has been just fine, but apparently that’s how the allergy develops. The first time is a very minor reaction, and looking back we realize the first time he had it he developed a small rash that we chalked up to roseola. The next time they take it (enter last night) it’s a very serious reaction. The doctor told us that we were lucky it was not an anaphylactic response, but that if he encountered penicillin again it likely would be. So, our son is on super strength Benadryl for about a week as he recovers, but we are so grateful to God that it was not worse than it was. As I sat holding my crying son last night, I felt so…hopeless. I couldn’t do anything to help him, save use the epi pen we have at home for Ava’s allergies if he stopped breathing. But as I sat holding him, I just didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t make him more comfortable, I didn’t know what was going on, and I couldn’t stop the swelling. The only thing I could do was get him in the hands of someone who can. For all of you parents out there, you understand exactly what I mean when I say there is nothing worse than watching your kids suffer and not being able to fix it. Since becoming a parent, I have a whole new appreciation for the love my mom & dad have for me, because I feel that for my children. As a parent you would do anything for your kids, and if we could, we would take the place of our children so they wouldn’t have to be in so much pain or hurt.  To quote Charlie Ellis, “Parenting is not for the faint of heart.” 

As it is, we cannot take the place of our children. We cannot take their sickness from them on ourselves, though because of our great love we would in a heartbeat. But as I thought about all of these things, I started realizing how much I was learning about the love of God last night. You see while I cannot take the place of my children, that is exactly what the Lord did for every single one of us. I know we have discussed this prophecy on this podcast before in the past, but let’s consider Isaiah 53:4-12 again, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” Every single one of us bears a much greater sickness than anything else we can experience physically in our body, and that sickness is spiritual in nature. Because of our sin, every single one of us suffers & ultimately will suffer eternally if no one were to intercede on our behalf. And God, looking down upon us as our Father, despite our sinfulness, was moved by love to act. He could not bear to watch the situation all of us have put ourselves in, and he decided to do something about it. We could not fix it, but God could. Out of his great love for us, Jesus took our place. He became sin who knew no sin, and he bore our griefs & carried our sorrows. He was hung on the cross and pierced on account of our sin. While every single one of us should die in our sins and deserve death, Jesus stepped in and he took our place. We can now have hope, we can be healed of our sins because of what Jesus did for us. When I think about this, I often wonder…why? Why could God do this for me? Then I thought about my son. I would take his place in a heartbeat, because he’s my son. I love him. How much more then does our Father love us? While my son is innocent & merely suffering from an infirmity, we on the contrary are all guilty of selfish sin and yet he takes our place. Father, we are so unworthy of your love, but we are eternally grateful. May we all as humble children devote ourselves to Jesus, who stepped in and did for us what we would never do for ourselves. 

Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Fridays, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and video sessions. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.