A man took his son’s temperature, and it was 102.5. The Children's Advil came out. The boy slugged down the appropriate dose for his size. Forty-five minutes later the fever was back down to 100.
Just before bed, the father checked his son’s temperature again. It was back up. More Advil. He checked again 45 minutes later; now it was 103. Concerned, the father asked his son to drink more water. He obliged, but he was clearly languishing.
The father barely slept monitoring his son through the night. At 12:30 A.M. the thermometer was shaken down and placed under the tongue of the lethargic son. His skin was hot. His affect dulled. 104.
The father called an urgent care facility at the local medical center. They said that he should bring him in as soon as possible.
The father jostled the son until he woke up. He told him that they were going to the doctor. The son looked at his father with weary, wondering eyes and said, "Am I going to die, Daddy?"
Immediately, the father had three reactions. Common sense: "No, you are not going to die. We need to get this fever down." Emotional: "I'm scared." Visions of children with bizarre diseases flooded his heart. Spiritual: "Dear Jesus, Cover him. Heal him. Love him."
The father conveyed the common sense reaction to his boy, not wanting to scare him, and the father was fairly certain his fever was not life threatening. But his mind flashed to the many parents in this world who have had to look at their children, knowing that the ultimate answer to that question was "Yes, you are going to die."
I wonder if in the heavenly places during
You don’t play with prayer when faced with such circumstances. Jesus petitioned God the Father three times for the removal of the cup of God’s wrath for sin. If it were only possible to redeem man without drinking of this cup! But it was not possible. Jesus removed His will to accomplish the Father’s will.
