Thoughts On A Given Day

Sometimes we make mistakes, but things still turn out just fine.

When I served with the Army in Iraq in 2005-2006, my primary mission was as that of a combat medic. That mission was twofold. If I was actually out on a mission (providing security for convoys), then I was the medic. I was the person expected to provide care for the wounded and save lives if necessary. When I was not actually on a mission, then I served as the senior medic for my unit. In that role my job was to supervise those medics who served under me and to train them, ensuring that their skills were sufficient to the needs that they might encounter. We trained before we went to Iraq, and we trained while we were there, I would say we trained without ceasing. We made an honest effort at taking our job seriously, because we knew that lives were potentially on the line.

I was the primary trainer, not because I was the most skilled of us, I wasn’t, but because I was senior by virtue of longevity (I have been asked what it was like back in the cavalry days when we still rode horses in combat, but a little humor never hurts to lighten the load). The truth is we trained one another. In spite of all this training, however, things didn’t always go according to plan, but I am extremely proud to say that my Battalion experienced no loss of life during our mission in Iraq. There were injuries, some of which were serious, and in spite of our thorough preparation and training, sometimes mistakes were made in providing medical care.

Two of my roommates were injured by an IED, or, improvised explosive device (homemade bomb). One of the two was one of my medics and was the driver of the Humvee that they occupied. The other was the gunner. When the bomb exploded the gunner was hit the worst. The lower portion of his left arm was destroyed just above the wrist, remaining connected by only a small strand of tissue. I recall him telling me later that he felt no pain from that wound, but there was a small piece of shrapnel further up toward his shoulder, and that hurt quite a bit. He noted that he could still wiggle at least one finger in that left-hand, and in his dazed state that gave him some hope that the hand might be saved. The driver of the vehicle, the medic, was wounded in the thigh, and he was in shock from the blast, wondering what had just happened as he saw the windshield spider webbed with cracks in front of him. The vehicle commander, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was not injured, other than from the shock of the blast. Of the three occupants of the vehicle, he was the least dazed and the most rational. As soon as he realized the extent of the gunner’s injuries he asked the driver to care for him, and the driver immediately responded in spite of his own wound.

He did some things right, but he also did some things wrong. He immediately put a tourniquet on the arm to stop the bleeding, and that was the correct decision. After applying the tourniquet, however, he applied a clotting agent to the shattered stump. The effect of the clotting agent was that any hope of restoring the hand was immediately gone. Granted, there was never any real hope of saving that hand under the best of circumstances, but he would’ve never applied that clotting agent had he not been in shock himself. He then proceeded to try to help alleviate the gunner’s pain. The best way to do that was with a morphine auto injector. He quickly removed one from his bag; but in his shocked state of mind he misread the directions, and rather than injecting morphine into the gunner, he injected it into his own thumb, because he was holding the auto injector upside down, and his thumb was placed exactly where the needle popped out when pressure was applied. Fortunately, he had two more morphine auto injectors. He promptly took a second auto injector out of his bag, and holding it properly this time, he plunged it into the gunner’s right thigh, only to realize too late that he had just plunged it into a small book that the gunner always kept in that right cargo pocket. Fortunately, he had one more morphine auto injector. He took out the third auto injector, cut open the gunner’s trouser leg, and injected the morphine properly into his thigh. In retrospect, he had done almost everything wrong, but he did accomplish one important thing – overcoming his own state of shock and his own wounded condition, he saved the gunner’s life. Sometimes when we make mistakes things still come out right. We don’t strive for the imperfection, but we accept it and move on, doing the best we can.

This is true in combat; it is true in life in general; and it is also true regarding life as a Christian. Nobody is perfect. Sometimes we make mistakes in our daily walk with God, but he can still accomplish great things through us. What he asks of us is not perfection, but devotion and availability. He provides the power. Apart from God we can do nothing, but with God we can do all things. Don’t misunderstand me. I am neither encouraging nor condoning the act of willful sin with the assumption that God doesn’t care and will bless you anyway. What I am saying is if we are actively trying to witness for God we will not always say the right things. We will make mistakes, but God can still speak through us in spite of our inadequacies. We can say the wrong things, or fail to say the right things, or fail to do the right things, but God can still use us. We will fail, and we will sin, but we should strive not to. None of us are perfect. We never will be, but we can still bear fruit for Christ if we remain in him.

 

1 Timothy 1:15-16

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶ But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.

John 15:5

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Philippians 4:13

World English Bible (WEB)

¹³ I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.