Jess' Miracle

“I don’t know what people do, when they don’t have the Lord to lean on.” Ken said to me, as we walked to the elevator. Along with Kathy, Ken’s wife, we had spent the previous four hours in the waiting room of the hospital. We talked. We laughed. But mostly, we waited. Jessica, their daughter, was undergoing complicated brain surgery. A long process had brought them to this day. A progression of tests, surgery and prayer. Lots of prayer.
Jessica suffered epileptic seizures, the result of an illness when she was three. Stress, fatigue, and strobe lights would be a few of the things to set off a seizure and put her brain into a spin. Now she was having surgery to, hopefully, eradicate the seizures. During the pre-op counselling the medical staff informed Jessica she might lose some of the vision in her left eye but she could be seizure free.
Ken, Kathy and Jess prayed. We prayed. But we were not alone. The rest of their family prayed. Their church in Newmarket prayed. And continue to pray. Missionaries in Romania were praying for Jessica. We were praying for Jess to be healed. We prayed the doctors would be skilful in their knowledge and trade. We prayed for God’s peace through the stress. Most of all we prayed for God’s will and for Him to receive glory.
Ken renamed this time in their family from Jess’ Journey to Jess’ Miracle. We all could see how God had already intervened. The surgery taking place as we spoke had been bumped from four to five months down the road to the phone call a few days earlier. “We have an opening. We need you to be down here in a couple of days. Can you make it?”
While sipping coffee in the cafeteria, we talked about how peaceful Jessica has been. We talked about a healing God and His wonderful Sovereignty. Before I left, we prayed again. We were partnering with God. We had not heard how the surgery was progressing but we had a calm confidence that God was in control. He was giving us the privilege of putting our trust in Him, of casting our burdens on Him. Some people refer to the Christian’s trust in God as a crutch. So what?
If we see a person with a broken leg using crutches, do we laugh? No. If we see an elderly person being held up by another, do we sneer? Of course not! If we see a child who has fallen being picked up by an adult, do we poke and make fun of the child. Why? If we see a person overcome by grief being hugged by another, are we so heartless we call them weak. I hope not.
When we have fallen, are weak or our lives are broken and the crisis is overwhelming, God wants us to lean upon Him. God does not think it insignificant when we call upon Him for help. He becomes our refuge, a strong person to lean on and trust. Kathy called. Jess was out of surgery and doing well.
The next morning, Ken called from the hospital. “Don’t bother coming in to visit. She’s going home today. All is well.” I could imagine Ken on the other end of the line bouncing with excitement. He was so proud of Jessica and so proud of God.
I spoke briefly with Jess. “Thank you for praying for me and my parents. I am going home today. God is so good to me.”“See I told you we are in God’s plan,” said Ken. “Won’t they be surprised tomorrow when Jessica walks into church?” And they were. At the beginning of church, their pastor requested prayer for the family as Kathy and Jess were still in London with Jess recovering from surgery. A few minutes later, Kathy and Jess walked into church to everyone’s joy. We all gave God the glory for helping Jessica. We will keep praying as we continue to watch the unfolding of Jess’ Miracle.