Recently I spent some time with a friend in the hospital for a few days and nights.
It’s amazing how much activity goes on through the night at a hospital. From checking vitals and answering patient calls to the monitoring of countless pieces of ever-beeping medical equipment. If you have ever spent a night in a hospital, the sights and sounds are all too familiar.
I left with a fresh, deep appreciation for what these hospital care workers do.
Wondering the halls late at night trying to stay awake I caught glimpses into patients rooms and was struck by how different the atmosphere can be from room to room.
Atmospheres are a big deal in a patient’s healing. One of these nursing heroes shared with me just how much of a difference it makes in the trajectory of a person’s healing journey.
Isolation, it turns out, is even worse than a feisty, over-crowded room. Of course, the best is a good balance of faith, peace, laughing, silence, and gobs of love. This makes so much sense when you think about how God works in atmospheres.
Set an atmosphere of worship, and He comes in the room in peace.Set an atmosphere of praise, and He comes in the room in strength and joy.
One of my early mentors in life and in ministry once shared with me that when He first got saved and knew He was about to experience a total re-boot of His life, He asked God, “What do you want me to do with my life from here? How do I do this?”
Down in His heart he heard God say, “It’s very simple. Everywhere you go, just create an atmosphere for me to be myself, and I will take it from there.”
Epic. I love this idea of living. We have the privilege of access by invitation and He does the rest.
We create atmospheres with our words, motives, actions, how we carry ourselves…reaching with all of it to people we encounter. He fills the room, shifts the conversation, and alters the trajectories of people’s lives and yes, even healing journeys.
Sometimes someone’s salvation experience or healing is a miracle in motion riding on the wings of God-atmosheres.
Before you think you have nothing He can use today, consider where your feet find you, and the person across the counter—at work or in school. Create an atmosphere where He can be Himself, and watch Him take it from there.