“The Lord Never Panics.” I carried a leather key fob embossed with those words during my nursing school years. There were plenty of reasons to panic. I was taking pharmacology and microbiology, two classes for which I was ill prepared. The “D” the pharmacology professor gave me was an absolute gift, I am sure. I was an English major before I went to nursing school. The prerequisite chemistry class I had taken the previous year was little help and I spent pharmacology classes lost in a fog.
The “C” in Microbiology was another gift, this time from a new friend and fellow student who tutored me after class. I had not studied biology for about eight years before I entered nursing school, and microbiology was a whole other level of information that my sleep-deprived brain could not process. I worked as a security guard on weekends, graveyard shift. This meant I got off work at 7:00 AM Monday morning, hurried home, changed out of the uniform, badge and gun, put on the clothing of a student with stethoscope and books, and rushed to class. I could barely keep my eyes open, much less absorb what the brilliant instructor said in his heavily accented English.
I spent most of my first few months in nursing school with my heart in my throat, feeling like an imposter who did not belong, fearful that I would not make it in the prestigious medical college. How had they let me in? I still don’t know, except it was God’s plan for my life. Somewhere along the way, I stumbled upon the key chain and it became my motto for those hard student years. “The Lord Never Panics.” It reminded me that He had everything under control. He had put me in this hard place and He would be able to get me through it. I did not need to worry. My heart moved out of my throat and back into its proper place in my chest. The pharmacology professor, during one of my many tutoring sessions with him, put wheels in motion for me to get more financial aid. I resigned guard duty and caught up on much-needed sleep. I’m sure said professor was happy that I stopped nodding off in his class!
Fast-forward to 2010 and my breast cancer diagnosis. The words of that old key chain came back into my head to remind me that I did not need to panic. Regardless of what pathway this disease would take in my life, God was not surprised. He did not panic when the radiologist said, “There is a mass in your breast.” God did not panic when the biopsy confirmed cancer. He did not panic when the oncologist prescribed chemo. And if He did not panic, I did not need to either.
Sometimes I was sad, sometimes I was irritable, sometimes I was restless, and oftentimes I was unsure of what the coming days would bring. But always I was sure of The One who walked beside and before me. The Lord never panics and I would not either. It would not change the outcome anyway, and so I determined to make the most of a hard situation. Along the way, God sent people to offer words of hope, encouragement, and help. I was not alone in this battle and He made sure I knew it.
The Lord never panics. He always has everything under control. When life presents unpleasant surprises, I remind myself that God does not panic and I will not either. It’s a pretty peaceful place to rest in the middle of the storm!
Monday's Journey 