The Mystery Illness
My daughter was curled up in the fetal position on the couch once again, arms crossed tightly over her stomach as a glossy look took over her eyes. My husband I looked at one another with eyebrows positioned in concern. These episodes came on suddenly and hadn’t given her much relief for almost 3 weeks now.
I swallowed and fought the anxiety that bubbled up inside.
At first we had assumed she just came down with a random mid-summer virus so I went into my usual “Mom with sick kids mode” pulling out the disinfectant wipes and essential oils. But as the days went on it was clear this so- thought “virus” maybe wasn't.
Days turned into weeks my heart began to break for her. Tears of disappointment rolled down her cheeks and mine as we drove away from dropping her siblings off at their first summer camp experience but she was too sick to stay.
Instead of summer camp, we found ourselves at Dr. visit #1 which proved to give zero results. We left the office with an over the counter prescription to treat the symptoms. A week rolled by and her energy level began to drop at an alarming rate. Something was not right and I began to have moments of internal panic for her.
During this process, I prayed to God for healing and eventually my prayers turned into pleading.
"Are you listening God?...."
"Are you still there?....."
"Do you even care?....."
"Why aren’t you bringing resolve to this?...."
"Heal her and give us wisdom" became the prayer that I breathed in and out over and over again.
The morning of Dr. visit #2 I was sitting in our three seasons room, Bible open and journal in place having a heart to heart with God. I could see my daughter through the glass patio door in her position on the couch which was becoming the norm.
“At least we are getting every penny out of our Netflix subscription this month.” I thought with a frown.
When I feel desperate in my quiet times I do something not-so Spiritual. I call it Bible Roulette. You know the game, where you randomly open your Bible, eyes closed and finger pointing until it lands on a spot that feels right. (Did I mention there are about a million and one more strategic ways to read the Bible? Because there are.)
This time, my eyes fell on Isaiah 38 titled “Hezekiah’s Illness”. I quickly thought back to my Sunday school days searching my memory for a flannel board story but I came up blank. This story was not ringing a bell so I read on.
Basically, Hezekiah is one sick guy and learns that he is going to die. He responds overcome by sadness and bitterness and sends out a plea to God, asking Him to remember him.
“Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord “Remember O Lord how I walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.” Isaiah 38:2-3
Then God does a thing. He responds in verses 5 and 6 acknowledging Hezekiah’s struggle and tells him he will add 15 years to his life and deliver him. He sends the prophet Isaiah to rely the message and then to top it off sends a sign and keeps His word.
Hezekiah recovers and then responds to God with a declaration of remembrance, praise, and thanks.
I realized as I processed this story that Hezekiah had an array of negative emotions but God didn’t count it against Him. In the midst of his struggle he cried (literally) out to God who not only saw him but healed him.
This God that I was reading about in the old testament is the SAME GOD I had been pleading with for answers and healing the past few weeks.
This God had the power to heal.
This God responded to broken people with negative emotions.
This God reassured his people with signs.
This God delivered and this God is the same God I follow. He hasn’t lost his power over the years or become uninterested in His people.
This God is my God and my daughters God as well.
My thinking shifted at this point and so did my prayers. Like Hezekiah I decided not to let go. Like Jacob who wrestled and asked for the blessing, I would too.
I jumped on social media and reached out to a handful of my praying friends asking them to specifically pray. I began to think about all the conversations and interactions I had over the past few weeks and saw a pattern emerge. I came up with a plan and headed into the Dr. appointment with a request that they weren’t going to like. I would need favor so I prayed for that too.
After another brief check up and the report that I had a healthy girl (who literally wasn’t able to walk more than a few yards without having to sit down or throw up) our Dr. very reluctantly agreed to give my plan a try and wrote me a prescription that made little medical sense.
Less than 24 hours later we saw DRASTIC improvement. Just like that our little girl was back to her spunky self as my husband and I looked at one another with cautious amazement.
What exactly had happened here?
The Lord, that’s what.
Our God heard us, He answered us quickly, and He healed our daughter whether through the use of the medication or by His power alone. It’s all one in the same.
Days later as I sit here and write this my eyes fall back on Isaiah 38. My own words of praise and declarations beg to be written down in response but thank you is what continues to surface.
"Thank you for bringing us through hard things, scary things, and unknown things."
"Thank you for your Word and for our praying friends."
"Thank you for your renewed power in our lives."
"Thank you for a quick answer." (which is not always the case)
"Thank you for not changing."
"Thank you for new perspective."
"Thank you for your love."
"Thank you for hearing us."
"Thank you for healing her."
And most importantly, "Thank you for renewed faith."
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” 1 John 5:14
I swallowed and fought the anxiety that bubbled up inside.
At first we had assumed she just came down with a random mid-summer virus so I went into my usual “Mom with sick kids mode” pulling out the disinfectant wipes and essential oils. But as the days went on it was clear this so- thought “virus” maybe wasn't.
Days turned into weeks my heart began to break for her. Tears of disappointment rolled down her cheeks and mine as we drove away from dropping her siblings off at their first summer camp experience but she was too sick to stay.
Instead of summer camp, we found ourselves at Dr. visit #1 which proved to give zero results. We left the office with an over the counter prescription to treat the symptoms. A week rolled by and her energy level began to drop at an alarming rate. Something was not right and I began to have moments of internal panic for her.
During this process, I prayed to God for healing and eventually my prayers turned into pleading.
"Are you listening God?...."
"Are you still there?....."
"Do you even care?....."
"Why aren’t you bringing resolve to this?...."
"Heal her and give us wisdom" became the prayer that I breathed in and out over and over again.
The morning of Dr. visit #2 I was sitting in our three seasons room, Bible open and journal in place having a heart to heart with God. I could see my daughter through the glass patio door in her position on the couch which was becoming the norm.
“At least we are getting every penny out of our Netflix subscription this month.” I thought with a frown.
When I feel desperate in my quiet times I do something not-so Spiritual. I call it Bible Roulette. You know the game, where you randomly open your Bible, eyes closed and finger pointing until it lands on a spot that feels right. (Did I mention there are about a million and one more strategic ways to read the Bible? Because there are.)
This time, my eyes fell on Isaiah 38 titled “Hezekiah’s Illness”. I quickly thought back to my Sunday school days searching my memory for a flannel board story but I came up blank. This story was not ringing a bell so I read on.
Basically, Hezekiah is one sick guy and learns that he is going to die. He responds overcome by sadness and bitterness and sends out a plea to God, asking Him to remember him.
“Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord “Remember O Lord how I walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.” Isaiah 38:2-3
Then God does a thing. He responds in verses 5 and 6 acknowledging Hezekiah’s struggle and tells him he will add 15 years to his life and deliver him. He sends the prophet Isaiah to rely the message and then to top it off sends a sign and keeps His word.
Hezekiah recovers and then responds to God with a declaration of remembrance, praise, and thanks.
I realized as I processed this story that Hezekiah had an array of negative emotions but God didn’t count it against Him. In the midst of his struggle he cried (literally) out to God who not only saw him but healed him.
This God that I was reading about in the old testament is the SAME GOD I had been pleading with for answers and healing the past few weeks.
This God had the power to heal.
This God responded to broken people with negative emotions.
This God reassured his people with signs.
This God delivered and this God is the same God I follow. He hasn’t lost his power over the years or become uninterested in His people.
This God is my God and my daughters God as well.
My thinking shifted at this point and so did my prayers. Like Hezekiah I decided not to let go. Like Jacob who wrestled and asked for the blessing, I would too.
I jumped on social media and reached out to a handful of my praying friends asking them to specifically pray. I began to think about all the conversations and interactions I had over the past few weeks and saw a pattern emerge. I came up with a plan and headed into the Dr. appointment with a request that they weren’t going to like. I would need favor so I prayed for that too.
After another brief check up and the report that I had a healthy girl (who literally wasn’t able to walk more than a few yards without having to sit down or throw up) our Dr. very reluctantly agreed to give my plan a try and wrote me a prescription that made little medical sense.
Less than 24 hours later we saw DRASTIC improvement. Just like that our little girl was back to her spunky self as my husband and I looked at one another with cautious amazement.
What exactly had happened here?
The Lord, that’s what.
Our God heard us, He answered us quickly, and He healed our daughter whether through the use of the medication or by His power alone. It’s all one in the same.
Days later as I sit here and write this my eyes fall back on Isaiah 38. My own words of praise and declarations beg to be written down in response but thank you is what continues to surface.
"Thank you for bringing us through hard things, scary things, and unknown things."
"Thank you for your Word and for our praying friends."
"Thank you for your renewed power in our lives."
"Thank you for a quick answer." (which is not always the case)
"Thank you for not changing."
"Thank you for new perspective."
"Thank you for your love."
"Thank you for hearing us."
"Thank you for healing her."
And most importantly, "Thank you for renewed faith."
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” 1 John 5:14
Comments
Post a Comment