Great is Thy Faithfulness--Yes, Really! by Ruth Smith Meyer

I sat beside a dear friend and prayed.  She was hospitalized, suffering from a severe headache, and so far, they had come up with only unproven theories for the cause. My heart ached for her because she’d come through some difficult times already. I had asked if I could pray for her and she had answered, “Please do!” –so I prayed.

“Lord, you have made our bodies with such intricacy.  The doctors aren’t sure what is the matter with my friend, but you made her and know exactly where she needs healing.  Would you please lay your healing touch on that exact spot?”

Suddenly, I was interrupted by her stiffening body.  I opened my eyes to see she was having a seizure.  I went to the door and called the nurse down the hall, “We need attention here, now!”

“What for?”

“My friend is having a seizure.” 

Several nurses and a doctor came running.  It was a good fifteen minutes when a nurse finally reported that the patient was coming out of the seizure, and since there was nothing I could do, I headed for home.   I had quite a conversation with the Lord all the way!

“Lord, I don’t understand what you are doing!  An immediate answer would have been quite welcome, but this doesn’t seem like much of an answer at all, Jesus.  I don’t understand!”

I felt deeply dismayed and perhaps even a bit disgruntled.  What was he doing to me and to my friend?  Then a thought came to me.

“It seems preposterous, but if by chance you can turn this around for the good of my friend, would you please do that?”

For the rest of my driving time and even after I got home, I breathed over and over again, “Lord turn it around for good.   Please turn it around for good. I want to believe that you heard my prayer and that you are faithful in hearing and answering, so please turn it around for good.”

I tried to call my friend’s daughter to let her know what happened an offer any help she might need.  Later that night, I got an email saying how thankful they were that I was with her mother.  The nurses had been leaving the door shut and the lights low to keep from worsening her mom’s headache, so it could have been some time before she would have been found had no one been there.

That was nice to know, but I still wondered why it had to happen exactly when I asked God to touch her where she needed healing.

It was a day or two after that I heard from the daughter again.  She said that because of the seizure, her mother was sent for further tests which determined the real reason for her headache.  She was put on two different medications that would rectify what was wrong.  So, she said, the seizure was a blessing in disguise.

Finally I could say, “Thank you Lord!  You did know what you were doing and what my friend needed to get the attention required.  Thank you for your faithfulness.”

A week later, I went to see her again.  She was looking like herself again--so much better than the week before.  At the end of our visit, I asked if she would trust me to pray again.  She assured me that she would welcome that.

At the end of a short prayer, I said, “Amen.”

With a chuckle and shining eyes so typical of my dear friend’s humour, she said, “And not even a hint of a seizure!”

Yes, God is faithful!

Ruth Smith Meyer's latest book, Out of the Ordinary has been touching many as hearts are connected to different parts of her life.  Visit her at www.ruthsmithmeyer