The Internet and Dealing with the Trials of Life
by Steve Ensley
As a Christian, I know that life is going to have trials, some small, some big. I also know that none of this is a surprise to God. He knows and cares about each and every moment of my life and your life. And He DOES give us aid and comfort along the way.
Now I don't often speak of the Internet as being an aid and comfort, but it actually can be just that! It can be a tool that God uses to bring us aid and comfort, for example in a medical crisis. I don't mention this example by chance. Just yesterday I received the bad news that I have a very serious medical condition that has caught me completely off guard. Without getting into the details, let me just say it is very serious, but not immediately life threatening (so you are still going to get more of these goofy articles from me).
Let us go back to the concept of the Internet as a source of aid and comfort. When I was informed of my condition, I immediately went to the Internet to see what I could learn. I was confused, concerned and more than a little fearful because of my lack of knowledge on this medical condition. To no surprise, the Internet was loaded with good information. In fact, there were over 88,000 pages of information available on this condition from just one search engine.
The available information covered everything from the source of the condition to treatments and the impact of the disease. I found universities, clinics, research papers, action plans and all sorts of good and useful information about the condition. I even found some reference material about the emotional and psychological issues involved. I was able to get immediate responses and all in the privacy of my home.
And that is an important point. Just imagine, you get bad medical news and then you have to wait for a doctor's appointment that may be days or weeks away to get any answers to your questions. Questions like, how did this happen? What is the prognosis? What are the treatments? What will be the impact on my life? What can I do about it? These are questions we all ask when our health is the issue.
Even if you went to your local library, you may find only limited information on the subject. In the past, a person suffered emotionally and psychologically until they could actually consult with their physician and sometimes even after consulting if the physician was not a particularly good communicator. In my case, and many others, I reduced that suffering by researching on the Internet and getting answers to at least some of my questions. And an added bonus is that I was better prepared to ask good questions of my doctor when I did get to see him.
The Internet does serve a great need for all of us. I am able to take great comfort in knowing that I could get some of the answers to my questions with just a little research on the Internet. This is exactly the type of thing the Internet was created to provide, a worldwide information source for the benefit of mankind. So even though I frequently write articles warning of the dark side of the Internet, I am happy to write this one to share with you about my own good experience with the Internet.
It was good because I was able to get enough information so that I could ask good questions when I did get to talk to my doctor. Because I could ask good questions, I believe the medical impact will be greatly lessened. I also believe the time to recovery will be shortened because I understand better what I am dealing with and can actually help the doctor in treating the condition. Because of the Internet I was able to consult with my doctor with an informed mind.
Therefore, on behalf of myself and the millions of others who have been helped, we thank all of you dedicated professionals and ministries who expended the time, energy and financial resources to place the world's collective medical knowledge on the Internet. I think I also must add that all of this life saving material was free of charge. There was not one greedy medical site that charged for their information. All this makes for quite a contrast between the greedy life destroying porn sites and the unselfish life-giving medical sites. I for one, have no trouble knowing which sites better reflect the will of God.
Stand with me on this, folks. Be sure to support the unselfish medical sites and help protect your families from the greedy and destructive porn sites. It may save your life someday. Oh, and one requisite precaution, the Internet medical information DOES NOT take the place of a doctor. It is just a tool to help you and your doctor manage your health.
May God richly bless all the medical sites for the proper use of His knowledge and the resource called "The Internet".