I doubled over in pain while loading the dishwasher. My breathing grew shallow as the discomfort in my shoulders and chest worsened. I crawled upstairs to bed. The next day agony nearly immobilized me, and my husband drove me to the emergency room.
All of the examinations, tests, and x-rays unnerved me. Trembling from head to toe, I waited in a wheelchair for results. My husband stroked my quivering hand. What is wrong with me? I wondered.
The answer came when my doctor entered the waiting room. “Mrs. Crawford, there are clots in your lungs. We need to hospitalize you for about ten days.”
I stared at my husband as tears blurred my vision and trekked down my cheeks. His soothing words of comfort got lost within my jumbled thoughts. Fear of the unknown tied my stomach in knots while the facts made me mad. Hospitals were for sick people and I dreaded becoming one of them.
I certainly didn’t have ten days to spare. Plans for my daughter’s birthday party were already underway, and the invitations sent out. I didn’t want to disappoint her. Now I had no choice in the matter. Within an hour, I stared at the whitewashed walls of my hospital room and cried out to God.
Two days later, the phone rang. One of my husband’s coworkers called to offer support and speak words from Scripture. But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord. God’s peace began to saturate my anxious thoughts and thankful words poured from my lips. A day later, an older woman from church called and shared the exact same Bible verse with me. Immediately, I knew God’s hand protected me, and I gave Him praise.
Fear has the potential to make you doubt God’s power. You can miss His favor when you focus on fear. Put aside those menacing worries. Glorify God with gladness and prepare to receive your Healer’s blessings.
(Photo courtesy of office.microsoft.com.)
(For more devotions, visit www.christiandevotions.us.)
Thanks Debbie, great reminder to put our trust in God and allow His Almighty healing hands to give us strength to ""tackle"" anything.
God's grace is sufficient. This is an awesome testimony of how not to be seized with sudden alarm, but to trust God in all things! Amen.