The Button

The Button

I am intrigued by words. We can strip them down to their roots or expand them on each end. We can dress them in exciting, enchanting adjectives or energize them with fast moving adverbs. We can customize them to fit our own needs or create brand new words, being careful, of course, that no one else has put a different meaning to the word. You can give them rhythm and rhyme and even make them dance to music. They can be compound, complex, or as simple as one word standing alone. Sometimes the speaker uses a sentence with a clear meaning: however, the listener hears a totally different message. Sometimes a sentence that is used to give a particular direction can actually be used to direct so much more. Could God take a simple direction from the lips and voice of an unknowing person and reach the listener (me) with a far more transforming message? Yes! The button…just push the button!

I was lying on my side on a cot wired for everything but sound. Wires, pads, machinery and other instruments all in place and it was time to flip the switch, push the button. “We are ready for the E-Stem treatment now, she said. A young therapist was beginning a procedure on me to relieve the pain I was experiencing, and I, the patient, patiently waiting. So the we – was really I! Just before the therapist started the procedure, she had one more message for me, one more direction, and a direction with two meanings. “Wait just one minute!”

“I forgot!” she said. “You need the Stop Button. I never want to leave you feeling trapped and unable to get freedom from the procedure if it becomes more than you can bear. If the treatment is painful or uncomfortable and you need help, just push the Stop Button.” Then she flipped the switch and walked out of the room. My leg danced uncontrollably. It resembled some sort of 50’s movement. Then came the pulsating pushes and pinches, which were uncomfortable. The treatment paused for a few moments and started again. Although it was uncomfortable, it was not unbearable. When the treatment was finished, my leg was still even though it felt like it was still moving. The therapist entered the room shortly after everything was still. There was no need for a button, a bell, or an alarm. I was fine. Mission accomplished! However, if there had been a reason to feel trapped or pain or danger, I had the button. At any time in the procedure I could have pushed the button, the emergency button. I was not alone.

I Corinthian 10:13 NIV “No temptation has seized what is common to man. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted (trapped), He will also provide a way out, so that you can stand up under it.”

The E-stem treatment was quite helpful. But, if I felt threatened, I had the button. Yes, the button would stop the procedure. However, life gets threatening and we sometimes feel trapped. There are times when we feel overwhelmed with problems, decisions, and on and on. What happens then? How do we get through the procedure called life and how do we escape when we feel we are trapped, unable to cope. The button, push the button. We have faith in Christ.

Yet, there are situations, which call for allowing Him to stop everything and reassure us of His presences. The Christian life calls for living and walking in places that are frightening and sometimes down right uncomfortable, and even painful. In every situation we have a power button, an escape. Paul reminds us that if we stand up in the face of trouble and perplexity, we do not stand alone. Face the challenge, stand in his strength, and if you get too frightened push the power button. Find the escape in Him. When we get to the point that we feel shaky, trapped, or pushed to the limit beyond what we can bear, He will make a way of escape.

The button…push the button! What God said to me came from the heart of God and was spoken by the therapist. .

During an E-Stem procedure came an eternal lesson.