More Than Medicine
More Than Medicine
DWDP - Procrastination: Lessons from Dr. Robert Jackson's Medical Practice
Have you ever felt the gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit, urging you to act, only to brush it off because you were too busy? In today’s heartfelt episode, Dr. Robert Jackson shares a deeply personal and poignant story from his early days as a physician. He recounts a significant moment when he felt a divine prompting to share the gospel with a patient, a moment he hesitated on, thinking he could postpone it to a more convenient time. Tragically, the patient passed away before that opportunity came again. Dr. Jackson's story is a powerful reminder of the urgency in responding to God's call without delay, as spiritual opportunities can be precious and fleeting.
We also dig into the balancing act of managing our time and priorities through the lens of Jesus’ ministry. Unlike many of us, Jesus never seemed hurried, even when interruptions came his way. Whether healing blind Bartimaeus, the ten lepers, or the woman with the issue of blood, Jesus viewed these moments as divine opportunities rather than distractions. By examining these biblical examples, we learn the importance of aligning our daily lives with God’s will and making time for what truly matters. Finally, we wrap up with insights into the Jackson Family Ministry, extending our blessings and gratitude to our listeners while encouraging them to engage with our ongoing spiritual content. Don’t miss out on this enriching episode that promises to inspire you to prioritize God’s call in your life.
https://www.jacksonfamilyministry.com
https://bobslone.com/home/podcast-production/
Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country. Hosted by author and physician, Dr Robert Jackson.
Speaker 2:Papa, can you tell me a story? Do you really want me to tell you a story? Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Welcome to Devotions with Dr Papa. I'm your host, dr Robert Jackson, and I encourage you to gather around and grab your Bibles and let us look into the written Word, which reveals to us the living Word, which is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:I'm continuing in a series of lessons that I'm calling Biblical Insights Gained from my Medical Practice and from my relationships with my patients. I want to tell you a story that occurred to me some years back, but before I begin, I want to ask you a question have you ever had to learn a painful lesson? Sure, you have. All of us have Some of the insights, some of the lessons that I have gained from my patients are almost too painful to share. So this story happened way back in the late 1980s, when I was first in medical practice and I was still seeing patients in the hospital at that time, and I had admitted a patient to the hospital. He was a big man, a big, strong, muscular man and he'd had a heart attack. He'd had what we call an inferior EMI, had a heart attack. He'd had what we call an inferior MI, and back in those days every patient that came in the hospital did not see a cardiologist and did not have a heart cath. Things were just different back then, and so his inferior MI was very simple, not complicated. He stayed in the hospital about four or five days. I evaluated him. He had only one risk factor, if I remember correctly, which was high blood pressure. He was not an obese man, but he was just a big muscular man and I told him that once he was discharged from the hospital that I would send him to see a cardiologist. And so I remember clearly on the day that he was to be discharged, I was signing his discharge papers and writing orders and talking to him.
Speaker 2:I was in a real big hurry. I'd already seen multiple patients in the hospital and I was late getting back to the office. Multiple patients in the hospital and I was late getting back to the office. And just as plain as day, an impression from the Holy Spirit says to me you need to share the gospel with this man. And I looked at my watch and I looked at him and I said to myself he'll come to my office later this week in follow-up and I will share the gospel with him in my office when I have more time. So I procrastinated, I put it off and I did not follow up on that subtle prompting from Holy Spirit to share the gospel with him at that very moment. I put it off, I procrastinated and then I finished writing orders, I patted him on the shoulder and I said I'll see you in the office in two or three days. And then I hurried out of the hospital, drove quickly to my office and then, lo and behold, when I got to the office, my first two patients of the day did not show up and I ended up shuffling papers for about 30 minutes with really nothing much to do. But I didn't think much of it.
Speaker 2:So let me ask you a question has God ever laid someone on your heart and given you a burden to share the gospel with them? Has he ever given you a strong impression that you should talk to them about Jesus, talk to them about their spiritual life? Well, of course he has. If you're a believer, god does that to all of us and he puts in our heart a burden to talk to, sometimes a neighbor or a brother, a brother-in-law, a friend at work. God does that to us all the time. And why is listening to Holy Spirit's subtle prompting so important and why is procrastinating so dangerous? Well, I'll tell you why. Let me give you the rest of the story.
Speaker 2:So my patient came into my office three days later and I looked on the roster of patients for the day and I saw his name and I said well, good, he's here, I'm going to talk to him about the Lord and I'll make a little extra time on my schedule just to do that. And while I was seeing patients, he was in exam room number three. I remember exactly where he was and he was my next patient to be seen. And I turned to go into exam room number one and all of a sudden I heard a loud thud in exam room number three and I opened the door quickly and there he was on the floor face down. He had had a heart attack in my office and he had hit the floor. I hollered for my nurses. They came running, we turned him over and began to do CPR, but it was to no avail. My patient had died suddenly in my office Now. We did CPR for over 30 minutes. We called the rescue squad. They came, they assisted us and we gave him oxygen and we put the mask on his nose and we did the ambu bag and we did the compressions on his chest, but all to no avail. My patient probably was dead when he hit the floor. We never got a pulse, we never got a blood pressure, we never got a heart rate, nothing. He was deceased the minute he hit the floor.
Speaker 2:And I was in complete anguish because the entire time I was remembering that Holy Spirit had spoken to me plainly about sharing the gospel with him when he was in the hospital several days prior. And I have never forgotten that incident. It still haunts me until today because I procrastinated when God gave me an impression that I should go and share the gospel with this man. And so I ask you the question again why is listening to Holy Spirit's subtle prompting so important and why is procrastinating so dangerous? Well, I think there's two reasons. Number one, because God may have prepared their heart to receive the gospel message at that very moment in time, because, you see, the Bible says today is the day of salvation. And then, number two. You may be the one person God has given credibility in their eyes for the delivery of the message, in their eyes for the delivery of the message, and they will receive the message from you at that moment in time, and no one else.
Speaker 2:You recall that Mordecai told Esther who knows that you have attained a position of royalty for such a time as this? So let me ask you, dear listener, what is your position? What's your position of royalty? Is it a position as a teacher or a counselor, or a parent, or a confidant, or a best friend or a next door neighbor? Well, who knows? But God places you and me there and gives us credibility in the eyes of that child or that neighbor, or that best friend or that confidant. Now, we used to sing a hymn when I was growing up that goes like this O Lord, lay some soul upon my heart and love that soul through me, and may I humbly do my part to win that soul for thee. You see, each of us has a part, each of us has a responsibility and sometimes Holy Spirit puts on our heart a neighbor, a friend, a child, somebody that God brings across our path, and we have to be sensitive to the subtle prompting of Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:What exactly is procrastination? Well, it's the art of putting off until tomorrow what I should do today. Why did I procrastinate with my patient? Well, you already know, it's because I was in a hurry. Let me ask you a question Was Jesus ever in a hurry, with only three and a half short years, to establish a worldwide enterprise known as the Church of the Living God? Jesus was never perceived to be in a hurry, despite the constant demands on his time by the hungry crowds, the sick folks and the demanding questions of spiritual leaders. In fact, have you ever noticed that almost every miracle that he performed was an interruption to his busy schedule or his travels? Well, just think about it. Think about blind Bartimaeus. He cried out Jesus, son of David, and the crowd hushed him. And he would not be hushed. He just cried out all the louder and he stopped the whole procession as Jesus was leaving Jericho and going up towards Jerusalem. And it was an interruption and Jesus stopped and he goes over to him and he heals his blinded eyes. You see an interruption to his busy schedule. And think about the ten lepers. And they, from a distance, yelled to Jesus and said Son of David, have mercy upon us. An interruption and Jesus, in his graciousness, he healed all ten of them.
Speaker 2:And think about the woman with the issue of blood. He was going to the house of Jairus, an important man in the synagogue, a synagogue official whose daughter was sick unto death. And this woman reaches out and touches the hem of his garment. Jesus perceived that power, healing power, had gone out of him and he stops the whole train and he says who touched me? And then she has to explain what happened. And it was a teaching moment for him. And you see, all of these healing moments were an interruption to what was happening in his life.
Speaker 2:Think about the paralytic where these four men create a hole in the roof and let him down while he's doing what he's teaching. He's teaching a whole crowd of folks. He, he says to the man your sins are forgiven. And then he tells him to take up his pallet and walk and the whole crowd is amazed, they're stunned. But you see, it was an interruption to what he was already doing.
Speaker 2:Now let me ask you was jesus, was Jesus perturbed? Was he angry? Was he put off? Was he offended? No, listen, he recognized that hurry is the death of ministry opportunity. Can I say that again Hurry is the death of ministry opportunity. Ministry opportunity In the interruption was an opportunity to minister and to heal and to perform a miracle that validated that he was in fact the God-man, and the same thing is true for you and me. Hurry is the death of ministry opportunities. How often are we in such a rush that we cannot stop and speak to a new neighbor, or listen to our grandchild tell about the happenings in their life, or help a broken down car on the side of the road, or listen to a friend share their heartache on the phone? Because I'm really sorry, I've just got to go.
Speaker 2:On the day that I procrastinated with my patient in the hospital, I got to my office in a big hurry only to find that my first two patients didn't even show up for their appointments. So I shuffled papers for 30 minutes when I could have been at the hospital sharing the gospel with my patient, in obedience to Holy Spirit. Listen, god is sovereign over my schedule and there's always time to be obedient to the subtle prompting of Holy Spirit. What if Stephen had decided that he was too busy to go down to the road from Jerusalem to Gaza to meet the Ethiopian eunuch and share the gospel with him. What if Peter had decided that his evangelistic schedule was too busy to go with the soldiers to visit Cornelius and share the gospel with his entire household? What if Paul and Silas had decided that they were too busy to go down to the river to meet with Lydia, who was the first convert in Philippi? You see what I'm saying? Hurry is the death of ministry, opportunity Busyness. You and I are always too busy, aren't we? Sure we are. You know it's true. Just confess it, and you might as well repent of it.
Speaker 2:Now let me just talk to you about this whole thing about managing our time. Men really aren't created equal in all things. We like to think that we are, but we really aren't. We're not even equal in the amount of time that God gives us, because, you see, some people's time are cut short by death, and I know that vividly because my father died at the age of 41. Success in life for a lot of us is the effective use of the time that God gives us in accomplishing God's purposes in our life.
Speaker 2:In Ephesians 5, the Bible tells us to redeem the time. How about that? Redeem the time? Management of time is a measure of the control of Holy Spirit in your life and my life, and that takes a lot of discipline, doesn't it? Now, discipline is self-control, which is a fruit of the Spirit. You know that.
Speaker 2:So let me ask you a question who controls the time in your life? Do you control it, or do other people control it? Or do circumstances control the time in your life? We have all the time that we need to do God's will. I'm going to say that again you and I have all the time that we need to do God's will in our life, and if you don't think that you have all the time you need, then you're doing too much, or you're doing the wrong things, or you're doing the right things the wrong way. In fact, I submit to you that we always have time to do the things that we really, really want to do. We find time to do the things that we really want to do, and it's not enough, brothers and sisters, to be active. We must be accomplishing the will of God in our lives.
Speaker 2:The Bible says that Jesus went about doing good. I think that you and me, sometimes, we just go about. So what does it mean to redeem the time? Well, in order to accomplish that we have to measure our minutes. In Psalms, chapter 90, the Bible says Lord, teach me how to number time my days. Teach me how to number my days so that I may present to thee a heart of wisdom. You see, it's a wise man who knows where his minutes and hours and days go, which means that I have to work under the principle of priority, not under the principle of pressure. And you see, most people, you and I know their lives are driven by deadlines and due dates, the principle of pressure, rather than the priorities of their life. What are the priorities in your life? Have you ever written out your priorities? Do you know what your top five priorities are in life? I would challenge you to sit down with a pencil and paper and you pray and say God, tell me what are my top five priorities, and you write them down, and then you let those be the guiding principles in your life and you see Jesus.
Speaker 2:He launched a worldwide enterprise in three and a half years, yet he was never in a hurry. The Bible says he set his face like a flint to go up to Jerusalem and then, when he was on the cross, he was able to say it is finished, it is completed, it's done. And yet in the high priestly prayer, when he prayed, he told his father that he'd accomplished the work that his father had given him to do. Now let me ask you a question If your life was cut short today, would you be able to confidently say to God, the Father, that you'd accomplish the work that he'd given you to do? Well, don't ask for more time, just ask for wisdom. Ask God for wisdom to use your time wisely and productively, which means you got to always be balancing the whole concept of the eternal God versus transient man.
Speaker 2:You know your and my life is very transient it's what Psalms 90 tells us and we have to complexion our daily work with eternal values. Now you have to plug the leech, because you know time slips away like sand in a sieve and time can't be captured and it can't be saved. It can either be spent foolishly or invested wisely. And one of the things you and I have to learn is you have to learn how to say no, don't you oh my goodness, that's the hardest word in the English language is how to say no, and so constantly ask yourself a question Does this help me accomplish my objectives in life? What are your primary objectives in life? Well, here it is to know him and to make him known. It's as simple as I can put it to know Jesus and to make him known. Those are the overarching objectives in every Christian's life. And you ask yourself over and over is what I'm doing right now helping me to accomplish those primary objectives in my life? And then you tailor, make your schedule to suit you and your objectives. Don't pattern your life after other people, but pattern your life after the Lord, jesus Christ. Figure out God's will for your life and then do it with all your heart. You remember Jim Elliot used to say only one life and will soon be passed. Only what is done for Christ will last. And let me finish this whole message with a little more positive, upbeat story.
Speaker 2:When I was in medical school, I found out that one of my great uncles was in the hospital and he was very ill and I decided I needed to go visit with him. And I used to spend the night with him and his wife when I was a small child all the time and I had a deep affection for him. But I went to visit him and I wanted to inquire about his spiritual life because I knew his time was short. But when I went to visit there was a crowd of people in the hospital room and it just wasn't a good time to talk to him about his spiritual life. So I left there and as I went back to my house I saw my pastor standing out in his yard watering his flowers. And I stopped and spoke to him, told him what I had been about and told him that the Spirit had been prompted me to go by and talk to him about his spiritual life. And he looked at me very seriously and he said well, robert, if the spirit is leading you, you need to go back and try to find time to talk to him.
Speaker 2:And I listened to my pastor and I understood what he was saying. So I talked to him a little while and I turned right around and went back up to the hospital and when I got there everybody was gone, it was just me and my uncle. And so as I talked to him a little bit, I asked him about his spiritual life and he was very, very weak. He could barely raise his head off the pillow and he raised one hand and he said I have a question. He could barely whisper and he said this. He said what does it mean to be born again? And I smiled and I chuckled and I said, uncle Charles, and I explained to him what Jesus and Nicodemus' conversation was all about.
Speaker 2:And I explained to him what it meant to be born again and when I finished I asked do you understand that? He said yes. And I said have you ever been born again? And he nodded his head no. And I said would you like to pray with me right now and you could be born again? And he nodded yes. So I led him in a sinner's prayer and he prayed and as he prayed a tear trickled down from his eye down on his cheek. And when he finished praying, I asked him and I said now, uncle Charles, have you made things right with God? And he nodded his head, yes. And then he rolled his cheek face over and he fell deep asleep and he just started snoring and I left him.
Speaker 2:But then later that night, uncle Charles went to Jesus. He was gone and the next day I was. I heard that he had died during the night and I thank the Lord Jesus that I did not procrastinate, that I did not put off going to see my Uncle Charles Now. I say that to you because the same thing is going to happen to you in your life. God is going to speak to you. Holy Spirit is going to see my Uncle, charles Now.
Speaker 2:I say that to you because the same thing is going to happen to you in your life. God is going to speak to you. Holy Spirit is going to prompt you to go and speak to a neighbor or a friend or a family member. Don't put it off, like I did with my patient. Go speak to them, like I did with my uncle. You'll be forever grateful. Only one life will soon be passed and only what is done for Christ will last. You're listening to Devotions with Dr Papa. If you like what you hear, follow, like, share or download it, and I pray that the Lord will give you a good week. We'll be back again next week and may the Lord bless you. Real good.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine. For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry, dr Jackson's books, or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, instagram or their webpage at jacksonfamilyministrycom. This podcast is produced by Bob Sloan Audio Production at bobsloancom.
