Extraordinary Measures

Recently I watched the movie “Extraordinary Measures” with Harrison Ford. It was so out of my normal viewing. I’m a big Disney girl, or romantic comedy or happy and light. For some reason, I could not get this movie off my mind and as I watched it I understood why.
The movie is a true to life story about a family who has two children who have “Pompes’ Syndrone” which is a form of MS. Up to this point children have never lived beyond nine. The Crowley’s daughter is 9 and her brother is 6. The father in the story, John Crowley, loves his children so much that he gives up his executive job with an opportunity to become Vice President and tracks down a scientist played by Harrison Ford who is, to put it nicely, the most irritating man on earth, and the most difficult to work with. But Brendan Frasier, as John, presses through all that because his children and his desire to see them live means more than anything.
The doctors offer no hope. In fact in one scene, after a very serious health crisis, the doctor tells him that he should view it as a blessing if his daughter, Megan, dies. When he is in the process of negotiating with a drug company to buy them out and get the opportunity to see the drug in tests much sooner than they could do it on their own, they are confronted with the cold black and white issues. How profitable will the drug be? One of the men asks him, “What rate of patient death can be defined as “acceptable loss”?

When Brendon Frasier is discussing John Crowley, he says, “He wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. He was determined to turn “no” into “maybe” and “maybe” into “yes”. He did not stop at “no” but overcame extraordinary circumstances with extraordinary measures.
Recently we talked about Hannah, and the fact that she refused to give up. I began to think about how John Crowley was the perfect representation of Papa God. He saw his children dying and sick and at the point of no hope. And He sacrificed everything that was precious to Him to save them.
As Jesus hung on the cross, Satan must have laughed and said, “That really puts Him in His place!” He made God, and all those who believed in Him look foolish.

But it wasn’t over yet. Only 24 more hours and Satan would be singing a different tune. And all of heaven could rejoice because the battle was finished. And won.

In every one of our lives there has been, is now, or will be a battle for our minds and hearts. There will come a moment when everything seems lost and hope is gone. Some would call it the “crisis of faith” where the temptation is so strong to give up. At one point in the movie the executive of the drug company is incensed because John brought in children with the disease to show the people who were working on the cure that these were real people. The executive says, “You have to be divorced from the emotion of this.” John answers, “These children have names, they have dreams, they have families, they are real.
It is stunning to realize that the God of the universe knows your name. He never forgets you or leaves you alone.
Your bad news, and broken dreams are never viewed as a blessing by God. There is never a time when He views loss as “acceptable”. He looks into your eyes and sees pain and wants to remove it. He sees sadness and wants to release joy. The Greek word for “mercy” is “one who actively works to remove distress from someone’s life.” That’s who He was, who He is, and who He will always be. He never changes; especially for you