my wisdom teeth

I have had problems with my wisdom teeth for 3 months now.

The first oral surgeon that I saw told me they were very impacted, very rotten, very complicated so the only way to remove them was to do it under general anaesthesia. I said no way. No GA for me. Then he said , well at least sedation or I am not comfortable doing it. Fine.

I prayed and prayed. No peace in my heart. Not just because I am not comfortable with sedation and its potential adverse effects, but I don't want to pay the huge amount of hospital fee just for a few hours stay after having anaesthesia. I prayed that God would provide me another oral surgeon who would be willing to do my surgery within the matter of 1 week and under local anaesthesia. It sounded very impossible, everyone told me waiting list for wisdom teeth removal is usually at least 1-2 months.

But I prayed hard and believed God would bring me a miracle. I truly believe.

I then managed to get hold of an oral surgeon who happened to have a time slot for me for first consultation within my time frame. When I saw him , I immediately felt the sense of peace. He said I was crazy that I insisted on only local anaesthesia but he would do so even though there is a risk of failure, that would result in postponing of surgery. I said I didn't care, just give me local. Deep down inside, I believed God would make this work.

And at the end, this oral surgeon did not just agree to give me local anaesthesia, on top of that he squeezed me in one of his lunch breaks so that I could have it done really soon. He also gave me a 50% discount on surgical fee! This means not only I will pay less surgical fees, I also save on hospital fee!

God always gives way more abundant than what we ask for!

So today I had the surgery. Of course I was praying the whole time. God said, Don't worry I am right here with you.

The oral surgeon initially thought the bottom tooth would be extremely difficult to take out, it would involve gum cutting, drilling and breaking the tooth in pieces. I prayed and prayed.

Guess what, a miracle happened. The tooth came out in one piece without even the need to cut my gum at all. The surgeon himself was very amazed and surprised. I know God was at work.

It only took him less than 10 minutes to remove three complicated, impacted and tricky wisdom teeth. Smooth! It is now 12 hours post op I still have not much of pain! Praise the Lord.

The surgeon joked,'now you have no more wisdom.' Precisely, why would I need my wisdom when God's wisdom is far greater?

God is never far from you when you call onto Him. He looks after you, from the biggest life crisis down to the smallest details in your daily life. Therefore, lean not on your own understanding, trust in the Lord with all your heart, in all your ways submit to God, and He will make your paths straight.

a small vessel for God

This morning before I started work I prayed a simple prayer for God to use me.

Then there was this patient that came in for a major surgery and he barely understands any English at all. And because interpreters are not allowed to enter the operating theatre, as his anaesthetist it was very natural for me to identify myself to him as someone who could speak his language.

So throughout the whole pre-operating period of getting him ready for such a major surgery, I was there explaining everything to him. I guess for someone who doesn't understand or speak English, it must have been a horrifying experience when surrounded by us , especially when he was going to have a high risk surgery.

Half way through the preparation, I saw the cross that he was wearing on his neck. I asked if he was a believer and he said yes. I told him so was I! Then we began to talk about how great God is. He said he really thank God for me because God has blessed him so much that He specifically sent someone who could speak his language in time like this to explain everything to him before such a major surgery. This scenario is actually very rare.

We praised God and blessed each other in prayer.Both of our spirits felt that God's presence was very strong in that small room. Hallelujah! When two believers get together and praise God, it doesn't matter one is a patient and the other is a doctor, or whether we know each other , or that we are in a tiny operating room...what matters is that we speak a common language, the Kingdom language.

I told him that God cares about every detail to the point of sending me there to comfort and pray for him in his own language, surely God will see him through his surgery. True enough, the whole preparation and surgery itself were abnormally smooth.

At the end he kept thanking me. I gave all the glory to God, for I am only a small vessel used by Him for His purposes. I am blessed by seeing his prayer answered, and I am humbled to see that God has used me to play a small part in answering his prayer.

Hmmm...it is good to be His vessel.