Persisting To Get The Blessing

“So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” – Genesis 32:24-26 (NIV)

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I barely sat down to relieve the evening Charge Nurse when I got a call from the Intake Nurse.

With a tone of desperation, he complained, “We’ve been busy down here Rcubes. There was a combative man they brought in from another jail earlier in the day and he remained very combative. I tried calling the ER doctor but he would rather see the man and right now, the deputies are very busy. They're not happy that they have to do that at this time.”

“Give me a minute and I’ll be there…”

I saw him. Reminded me of the movie “Silence of the Lambs”. Like the character Hannibal Lecter, his head was covered with a spit mask. I adjusted my fogging up glasses to prevent it from doing so, as I turned up the light switch and barely illuminated his naked form, sitting on the metal chair, all extremities strapped with added handcuffs as he struggled to make his wrists free. In so doing , he kept hurting the previous cuts he had and I could see, the gauze dressing covering his cuts were becoming loose. As blood trickled a little bit on some parts of his wrists. As metal (handcuff)slid against metal (safety chair), his random yelling changed to profanities as he saw me peering through the tiny glass window. With my mind not understanding what he was trying to say except I could sense his intense anger.

“Who did you talk to?” I asked the Intake Nurse with reference to the doctor he previously called.

“Dr.Y…”

I recalled the name few nights I was there at work. When I spoke with the same doctor two times and though both of the situations didn’t seem urgent, nurses got it that he seemed to be giving advices every time to bring the inmates to the county hospital’s ER. It was not a big deal. Except…most of the busy nights, the burden fell on deputies who needed to bring them and with the shortage of staff, let alone the thousands of bodies they needed to watch, often, made such unnecessary trips difficult. I read the combative inmate’s chart to gather more information before calling him again. As a Charge Nurse, it was my responsibility to help out the overwhelmed Intake Nurse. Sometimes, it was easier to just wish I wasn’t. Then, the responsibilities would be a lot less on my hands. But that night…It was on me…

I called him…Dr. Y…I told him I wasn’t questioning his decision to see the combative inmate. But informed him that we used to give a combination of 3 drugs that helped the agitated inmates to calm down. I asked for his permission, not letting him talk as he uttered, “Bring…”the whole time I was talking…He struggled to cut through my talking….and not being given a chance, let out a sigh and with a very nice, calm, approving voice, he uttered:

“Okay! Go ahead!”

“Okay, guys!” (I yelled to 2 Intake Nurses)…

“Prepare your meds!”

“You got the order?” asked the Intake Nurses, smiling and with their eyes growing bigger with surprise.

They knew it was tough to get that order. I had to struggle and in doing so, I got that blessing.

And so it is, too with a lot of things in our lives. But we can choose to approach those things we pursue with fear or rather,we can also opt to learn to be persistent in doing so... Like Jacob, who was afraid to see his brother Esau, decided to pray. He ended up having a wrestling match all alone, all night with an angel. Not letting the angel go, even if it meant having his hip dislocated. He remained persistent so he could get blessed.  And he won.

God encourages all of us to be persistent in all areas of our lives. Through tough times, we develop stronger character. Through persistent prayers, we can prevail! Because we can pray, not in our own power, but with His!

Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.  – Romans 8:26 (NLT)

“Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,” – Ephesians 6:18 (ESV)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV)




By the way...that inmate fell asleep and remained calm all night long. He probably woke up right on time when the Psych Doctor came to evaluate on him and the other ones...