21/08/2026
When I started my Paediatric Specialist training some years ago, we were trained on how to help newborn babies breathe.
Some of the babies would not breathe in spite of all conventional interventions and often requires advanced care.
This usually involve putting a tube through their windpipe. It's a very specialized newborn care that demands the skill of the Doctor.
During the training, we used inanimate objects called Mannequins for practice. Everyone on the training was able to do the procedure successfully, EXCEPT ME.
I tried and tried but I couldn't. I felt bad but I took it as a challenge.
After everyone had left, I carried the mannequin and went somewhere with it. It was already night, me and the mannequin alone in the room, plus the instruments to be used for the procedure.
I told myself that unless I acquire the skill, no sleep that night.
So, I continued to try. I kept inserting the tube into the wrong place until at the 25th attempt, I was able to do it successfully. I was happy, so I kept doing it until I had done another 25 serially successful attempts.
I felt satisfied. My skill was perfected and I was ready to do it on a human being. I was confident that I would be successful.
A few days later, we had a newborn baby who refused to breathe despite all efforts. Everyone had tried to put in the tube without success.
Since I haven't done it before, I didn't bother to ask them to allow me to do it.
Then again, it remained just me and the baby that night. Every other person had closed. I was the Junior Doctor on duty. I was tired. I didn't know what to do.
Then, I remembered when the children of Israel were crying at the bank of the red sea. Moses too was confused and he went to ask God what to do.
God responded with a question, "What is in thine hand?" Exodus 4:2.
So I heard God talking to me at this time, "What is in thine hand?"
Then, I remembered that few nights prior, I already acquired the skill that could help the baby to live.
Though everyone had tried and failed, God was ready to do a miracle using what was in my hand.
So, I got up and prepared to put in the tube.
Men and brethren, I did it at one attempt. It was a miracle. A medical miracle.
By 5am the following day, the baby was breathing by himself. 12 days later, he was discharged home.
So, today, God is asking you, "What is in thine hand?" He wants to do wonders through what is in your hands.
How much of yourself, your time and money have you put into what is in your hand?
How much of your sleep have you sacrificed in order to refine what is in your hand?
How much comfort have you let go? How much have you read? How much have you volunteered? Just to get better at what you do?
God wants to do a miracle in your life but He wants to know what you have in your hand that He can use.
Success is a result of your P-LUCK, not your LUCK. The 'P' means 'Preparation'. When luck meets you prepared, you will succeed.
"What is in thine hand?", God is still asking.
I am Dr. John S. BALOGUN and many times I wonder why we discard what we have and start pursuing what we don't have when in actual fact, what we have now is the bridge that will connect us to what we do not have yet.
