Inspiration: Apply Every Remedy

Almost exactly a year ago I was very pregnant and just trying to get through church so I could go home.  It was high council Sunday, and I'm sure I was planning on just zoning out during Sacrament meeting.  Instead I was drawn into the talk that the speaker was giving.  He was quoting from Dallan H Oaks talk Healing the Sick from the April 2010 General Conference.  Among other things he quoted:

"Latter-day Saints believe in applying the best available scientific knowledge and techniques. We use nutrition, exercise, and other practices to preserve health, and we enlist the help of healing practitioners, such as physicians and surgeons, to restore health.

The use of medical science is not at odds with our prayers of faith and our reliance on priesthood blessings. When a person requested a priesthood blessing, Brigham Young would ask, “Have you used any remedies?” To those who said no because “we wish the Elders to lay hands upon us, and we have faith that we shall be healed,” President Young replied: “That is very inconsistent according to my faith. If we are sick, and ask the Lord to heal us, and to do all for us that is necessary to be done, according to my understanding of the Gospel of salvation, I might as well ask the Lord to cause my wheat and corn to grow, without my plowing the ground and casting in the seed. It appears consistent to me to apply every remedy that comes within the range of my knowledge, and [then] to ask my Father in Heaven … to sanctify that application to the healing of my body.” ¹

Of course we don’t wait until all other methods are exhausted before we pray in faith or give priesthood blessings for healing. In emergencies, prayers and blessings come first. Most often we pursue all efforts simultaneously. This follows the scriptural teachings that we should “pray always” (D&C 90:24) and that all things should be done in wisdom and order. ^2"

A week later I was in the hospital after having a C-section.  My baby girls were in the NICU because they were small and unable to breath on their own.  Brandon and I said a quick prayer in my hospital room and thanked Heavenly Father that our girls had arrived safely.  We asked that he would continue to bless them and help them develop properly while they were under the care from the hospital staff.

I trusted the hospital staff to know what they were doing.  I knew that Heavenly Father would help them take care of our babies.  I'm glad that I heard this talk before going to the hospital because it reminded me that doctors and nurses often do the work of God.