Wouldn’t it be great if Jesus walked among us today and we could just touch the hem of his garment and be healed? Sickness and death has touched us all in some way. My dad battled cancer. My grandmother battled Alzheimer’s. Sweet friends have battled infertility and miscarriages. Another sweet friend is battling Parkinson’s. My sweet mother-in-law was taken to Heaven from complications associated with diabetes. My husband fights diabetes and its complications every day. All around us, we know people who could use just the touch of the hem of His garment. Chances are as you read this, a person comes to mind – and maybe that person is you.
We think of these friends and family – or even ourselves – and cry out, “It’s not fair! Why them? or Why me?” We earnestly pray for healing and sometimes healing comes and sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t have the answers as to why God heals some and not others. I can’t pretend to always understand His divine plans. But I do know God still heals. I am living proof. In October 1993 an 88 year old woman ran a red light in a turn lane and hit the vehicle I was in as we traveled through the intersection. In that moment my world changed. One accident and I had two broken vertebras. One in my neck and one in my lower back. I was in my twenties at the time, with my whole life ahead of me. As my parents got the news, my dad (who was a pastor) started notifying everyone he could think of and prayers started going up. Those people contacted other people. I was on a prayer list from the Florida Baptist Convention and prayers started going up all around the world. At that time, my parents had no idea what my injuries were – only that I was coming in on an ambulance. My mom was a nurse at the hospital I was taken to and she was in the ER before me. When the x-rays, MRIs and such started coming in, the doctors could not believe that I was not paralyzed from the neck down. It was a long, painful road to recovery and I live every day with back aches – but I live every day eternally grateful for every prayer said that day. I live eternally grateful to the paramedics that were called to the scene. I live eternally grateful to Dr. Arnold Zeal, the neurologist who treated me. I live eternally grateful to my mom who stayed by my side day and night through an entire week in ICU and cared for me for months after being released from the hospital. I live eternally grateful to my little sister who still has my fingernails scarred into her hand where she held my hand through the pain. I live eternally grateful to my brother-in-law who was a blood type match and donated blood when plan A was surgery until the break in the neck was found. But most of all I live eternally grateful to my God who guided the hands of those who took care of me and gave them wisdom to make the best decisions. I am eternally grateful for a God who answered the prayers said on my behalf that day and did a miracle work and kept me from being paralyzed.
Jesus may not walk amongst us in physical form today, but he is very much near. No matter what you or friends or family may be going through, you can know that God is near. Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit.” Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.” And in Deuteronomy 31:8, it says, “The Lord is the One who will go before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”
I can’t promise you that God will provide healing for you or your friend or family member. But I can promise that God will go through the journey with you. He will give you strength and courage and help you through it, even if we don’t understand the why. One thing I do know – those I mentioned at the beginning of this post have all trusted Jesus as their Savior. Those I’ve lost have gained healing in Heaven where there is no more sickness and no more death. Those still on earth fighting disease – if God’s divine plan is to not heal them, then their healing will come in Heaven also. Yes, we grieve them when God calls them home. We miss them everyday. But God wraps us in His arms and gives us peace through the grief.
I only have snatches of memories of the day of the accident. But I do remember constantly singing the old hymn, “Amazing Grace” over and over and over again. The more I realized the extent of my injuries, the more of God’s amazing grace I experienced and continue to experience. His grace sustained me that day and the days and months that followed on down through the years and it will sustain you or your friend or you family member who you love so much.
But I will sing of Your strength and will joyfully proclaim Your faithful love in the morning. For You have been a stronghold for me, a refuge in my day of trouble.
-Psalm 59:16
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