God Holds the Hearts of Kings

God Holds the Hearts of Kings in His Hand…

Our younger son Jamie had graduated from a stellar, private liberal arts college in the South and had promptly begun work on his master’s degree in Atlanta while at the same time applying to medical colleges across the country and working full-time. 

From the time he was eight years old, Jamie had wanted to be a doctor.  He had excelled in high school and earned a scholarship to college as an academic athlete.  He also wanted to boost his entrance exam scores by taking some additional physics and preparatory courses. 

Jamie had always done well at anything he tried.  He was never blindingly brilliant, but he was consistently stellar.  Medical school was the next huge step for him and, at times, seemingly unreachable.  We had very limited funds with which to help him, and there was no legacy of doctors or their credentials in any of our family. 

For months, we watched him study hard, work long hours, and continue the courses necessary to complete his master’s degree.  At times, my heart ached for him as he waited for the acceptance letter to medical school.  In the meantime, he was impressing his professors in grad school, and they began to initiate conversations with him, encouraging him to enroll in the doctoral program at the university he was attending.

Jamie continued to pray, earnestly, seeking God’s face as to whether or not it God’s will for him to be a physician or if it had simply been his desire.  As Jamie’s graduation date approached, he told both of us that he was being pressed to make a decision about either applying to the doctoral program or applying to medical school one more year.  Together, we began to pray Proverbs 21:1, 'The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the waters of the river:  He turns it anyway He wants.'  We began to pray that God would turn the hearts of the admissions board however He wished, opening doors that no man could close and closing doors that no man could open.  I watched his anxious spirit fade away, replaced by a sense of peace in God’s plan for his life.  He no longer rushed to the mailbox or hurried to look through the mail on the kitchen counter.  Instead, you could see the quiet trust in His Father’s hand, one way or another.  Occasionally, I would walk into his room to see his Bible open to Proverbs 21:1 next to his bed.

I will never forget the day that Jamie came to the church office where I worked with a piece of paper in his hand.  Together, we read the acceptance letter from the medical school in our state, rejoicing that he had been admitted to the long and arduous process of becoming a physician.  Only months later did we learn that his application was only being delayed until Jamie completed his advanced degree.  Now, some three years of grad school, four years of medical school, and five years of residency later, he is doing exactly what he knew God had called him to do when he was eight.  He is following God’s call on his life as he ministers to those God brings into his life.  He still tells me that Proverbs 21:1 is one of his favorite verses.

© 2011 Gerry Sisk

(03/02/11)