Garments of Praise - The Christian Online Magazine

The Christian Online Magazine -

I want to tell you about a miracle I had in my life and I pray that it will help you when you are tempted to get discouraged. When you feel like your load is to heavy to bear, you will know you are not alone. I have been there. I know what it's like to feel like your ship is going down for the last time.

Not very long ago, I found myself alone in a hospital room feeling like my entire world was caving in. I was beside myself and didn't know what to do. The doctor had done all he could do, the nurses and therapists were doing their jobs, and yet I was still very weak and frail. Both the doctor and social worker were telling me I would have to go to another facility after leaving this hospital, because I was too weak to go home. I had surgery one-month prior & due to a terrible infection that almost took my life I had to have another emergency surgery. I was sent home the first time via ambulance to and had to remain in bed for a month.

So, now I was back in the same hospital, only seriously ill this time. I was so weak I had to eat with a tray across the bed. I had to have assistance to turn in the bed or to go to the bathroom.

On this particular night in the hospital room, I was very depressed, thinking about the possibility of not being able to return home. I didn't want to make things worse for my husband who would be my caregiver; all I wanted to do was to go home. My husband and my family were telling me the doctor knows best. I knew they were right, but that was no consolation.

I found myself crying very easily when no one was in sight. I was constantly fighting depression. I hated being dependent on the hospital staff for my every need. I hated having to call for assistance to get out of bed. I had to lie on my back all the time unless I asked someone to help me lie on my side and they would have to prop pillows around me to keep me from flopping back on my back again. The back of my head ached from lying constantly on my back. My doctor allowed me to walk only twice daily, with a walker and my therapist.

One night after my husband left my room, I lay in the bed sobbing, I knew he had to leave, but I felt so alone. I was barely able to move. I felt as though no one really understood what was happening to me. I picked up the phone and called my sister who lives in another state. Hearing her voice always helped, unfortunately she could only offer her loving support. Since she was not a Christian, she was not able to offer prayers for me.

As I lay there in that lonely bed crying and trying to pray, I began to reflect on the Scriptures and how the Master found a time in His ministry, when He needed to withdraw from everyone and pray. Recalling His words in John 14:1, I knew He did not want me to be troubled, but instead wanted me to have faith in Him. As I began to seek His face that night with all of my heart. I felt a sweet presence enter into the room. For the rest of the night, I knew the angels of the Lord were encamped round and about me.

Every time I awoke, I talked to the Lord. The peace of God again ruled in my heart and I knew everything was going to be all right. Now, I am not sure if the nurses were listening outside of Room 241 that night, but if they were they knew a prayer meeting was taking place, for I would find myself talking out loud to God. I found peace for my situation as I sought the counsel of my Lord, lying on that bed of affliction.

You see friend, we have to recognize the fact that the enemy of our soul works harder to attack us mentally than physically. He starts to feed us things that confuse us and if we are not tuned in firmly to the Word, we will find ourselves tuning in to what he has to say. If he can direct our attention away from the Word of God and turn it toward our problems and circumstances, then he has us where he wants us! You see, after a while when the devices he once used no longer work, he will try something new and different. That's what he did with me. The surgeries that had been necessary to save my hip and my life had taken their toll on my body. The enemy took advantage of my heavily medicated condition and was oppressing me mentally, as well as physically.

We must remind ourselves in times like these, that even Jesus had to find a quiet place where He could be alone to pray. (See Matthew 14:23.) Later, when the apostles were alone in the boat and in trouble Jesus came to them walking on the sea. This story of the Sea Walker serves to remind us, that as we keep our eyes on the master, nothing can harm us. We may feel like we are going down for the last time, but just as Jesus caught Peter by the hand, He will catch us up and keep us until the storm passes by.

You see that night in the hospital was a turning point for me. The next morning I asked the staff to help me get out of bed and in a chair. They were shocked, but proceeded to help me get up and I was sitting there when my doctor came into the room. He couldn't believe it. He said, "You are looking good, if you keep doing this well we might just send you to the Rehab Center here in the hospital or we perhaps let you go home." That was Monday; I went home that Wednesday. I thank God for all that were praying for me, including my doctor who believes in the power of prayer. It was when I had that personal all night conversation with Jesus, that things began to happen. All of Heaven was at my disposal when I called upon that wonderful name.

We need that quiet time with Him, so He can be a personal God to us. My friend, today if you are serving Jesus, He knows you by name and is waiting to hear you say, "Lord here am I". He knows who you are; He knows your circumstance or situation. He is standing with outstretched hands waiting to rescue you.