Is it just me or does life feel messy sometimes?
I feel like I can be going along and life feels kind of simple for a while and then wham, hit with something else!
Not too long ago my youngest brother was living life pretty fast and hard. Some choices he made were not in alignment with God’s will for him.
He was in a pickup accident which almost took his life.
SO many broken bones along with serious head trauma! Just to name a few were his back, neck, face, ribs, sternum and one leg. The only thing not broken were his arms and they were full of glass. His lung was punctured and full of glass as well.
The phone call you get after an accident like that is kind of burned into your memory.
My dad was the first person to get the call. Before he called anyone else, he prayed the following verse for my brother.
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10 (NIV)
The doctors were giving our family the worst case scenario. They said there wasn’t much hope of him surviving let alone being restored to full health.
It was time to step out into the deep end of faith. As a family we could have crumbled and given in to the fear but we cried out for God’s mercy and stood firm on His word. We spent quite a bit of time in prayer reminding God of his promises.
We let the doctors do their job and we did ours as a family,
standing in the gap for my brother.
I won’t lie and say it was easy. There were tears shed and frustrations vented. Many days of hearing the worst case scenarios could have threatened to steal our faith. The thief came to steal, kill and destroy. We were holding onto the promise that Jesus came to give us life abundant. (John 10:10)
We already knew God was in control and would never leave us. We also knew God is sovereign and His ways are higher than our ways.
Many times, well meaning friends would comment how nice it was to see us “hoping” he would be fully restored. It wasn’t just hope like we normally think of it. Not the wishful kind of hope anyway.
[Tweet “It’s an expectant hope. A confident and assurant hope. In other words…it’s faith!”]
There are no shortcuts to faith. We must spend time in God’s word so we’re ready to do battle when the tough days come. Arm yourself with God’s promises so you too can cut down any attack from the enemy!
[Tweet “God makes impossible things possible.”]
My brother is a living, breathing, fully restored, walking testament of God’s miracles. He will always have some scars to remind us of the battle God won!
I’m sharing this post with several other blogger’s at these Faith Linkups. I encourage you to check them out. If this post resonates with you and feel it would help others please feel free to share. Easy to share buttons below. ~Laura~
Laura, thank you for sharing. My family received a similar phone call. A phone call that said my brother had a skiing accident, was a quadriplegic and may not survive the flight off of the hill. As a family, we stood in the gap and pled for his life and healing. He did survive and is now a doctor, husband, and father. He touches many lives – from his chair. Faith is often saying "I will trust you even though…"
Faith in our Risen Lord is all that sustains us!!! When family, friends, church families, & virtual strangers come together in prayer, the power is awesome. Our God is Good!!!!
Amen! Trusting Him no matter what!! Thanks for stopping by. Blessings!
The power of prayer is amazing! Love that we get to experience it first hand.
Wonderful post! I’ll admit, I need to spend more time developing that kind of “expectant hope.” Praise the Lord for your brother’s complete healing – and that the Lord was glorified by your expectant hope!
Thanks Rebecca! That expectant hope was birthed out of a lot of time in the word and many walks through the fire. To God be all the glory!