The Surgeon Who Had No Choice But to Cut

In 1961, Dr. Leonid Rogozov was the only physician stationed at a Soviet research base in Antarctica when he developed acute appendicitis. The nearest hospital was thousands of miles away. Evacuation was impossible. Without surgery, he would die within days.

So Rogozov did the unthinkable. He prepped an operating table, positioned a mirror, recruited a meteorologist and a driver to hand him instruments, and performed an appendectomy on himself using local anesthesia. For nearly two hours, he cut into his own body, located the inflamed organ, and removed it. His hands trembled. His vision blurred. At one point he nearly fainted. But he kept going, because the only alternative was death.

Courage is rarely the absence of fear. Rogozov was terrified. He later wrote in his journal that the pain was overwhelming and he felt himself growing weaker with every minute. But he picked up the scalpel anyway.

Scripture tells us that when the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, Peter asked to come to Him. And Jesus said one word: "Come" (Matthew 14:29). Peter stepped out of the boat trembling, just as Rogozov picked up that scalpel trembling. Neither waited until the fear passed. They acted while the fear was still present.

Some of you are facing something right now that terrifies you. God is not asking you to stop being afraid. He is asking you to step forward anyway. That is courage — not the absence of trembling, but obedience in the middle of it.