Career-saving Strength From God

Career-saving Strength From God

Strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. Isaiah 35:3

I was committed to serving the poor, not only because of my obligation to repay the National Health Service Corps for my medical school scholarship, but also because I believed it was what God wanted me to do. However, three years into my four-year obligation, I almost gave up on both.

At the time, there were only two doctors in our county who were on call, and we were both working off our obligations to the NHSC. But the other doctor’s four-year service ended a year before mine. When we discussed what he planned to do when his obligation ended, he said he was going to leave at the end of the year.

If that happened, I would go from being on call every other night and weekend to being on call every night and weekend for at least a year, unless we could find more help.

I immediately notified everyone I knew that we were looking for another doctor. But I also began looking at other options. I was exhausted from the current schedule, and Karen was frustrated that I was never home. If I had to put in a full year of being on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, my health would be at risk, and my family would be irreparably harmed. But if I couldn’t transfer to another location within the NHSC, I would have no choice but to repay the remaining balance on my loan and start over somewhere else.

Karen and I still felt as if God had called us here and that we shouldn’t leave unless God clearly directed us to. But what if I physically and emotionally couldn’t work under the new conditions? We both began to pray.

My former residency director picked up my distress signal and told me he had two graduates who had not yet decided where to go. We ended up hiring both of them! With this news, the other doctor decided to give it another year or two. Within a few days, I went from bearing the full load myself to sharing it with three other doctors!

God not only answered our prayers, but he also confirmed that he wanted us to stay right where we were.

TODAY’S RX

If you are weak and tired, look up. Your strength comes from above.

Lord, when I leave my concerns with you, rather than trying to handle them myself, you answer in ways I have not foreseen. Thank you for showering me with your abundant love and for caring for me so faithfully.