Take Him at His Word...

          I was moved by a testimony that a husband, Gerald, gave about his wife’s miraculous recovery after an accident. She was on her way home and had just spoken to him on the phone. Unfortunately, she never made it home because she suffered a heart attack behind the wheel and crashed. When he tried calling her, he had problems getting through but finally a woman, a nurse, answered his wife’s phone and told him what had happened. They tried doing CPR on her while he desperately tried getting to her after finding out that things were bad. When they got her to the hospital, they discovered that her heart had stopped for about 28 minutes. Her organs were beginning to shut down and they didn’t expect her to last the night. Gerald, fearing the worst, tried to release her but he reminded God that He was the God of the impossible and asked for a miracle. Fortunately, she did last through the night and in the coming days friends and family prayed for her. During that time, as he prayed he felt God say that He would answer his prayer and perform a miracle, that it didn’t matter what man said, He was going to do it. He chose to hold on to God’s promise. She began to stabilize but when they did an MRI they discovered that she had had a stroke and believed that she would be a vegetable. They got ready to take her off the ventilator and to bring her out of the coma not knowing what her mental state would be. Gerald prepared himself by reminding himself that God would keep  His promise to him. She came off the ventilator and steadily improved. She acknowledged that her recovery was a journey and that she had to go through her season of therapy.
         I was encouraged by this story because, once again, God was reminding me that He keeps His promises. If He tells us something, He is obligated to fulfill it no matter what anyone says, thinks or believes, no matter how bad and hopeless the situation looks. If God says it, He – not us – will perform it. As that husband heard all those negative reports, I can imagine that it was difficult to hold on to God’s Word to him. Sometimes when God speaks, we want instant results, we want things to happen in as short a period of time as possible. But, guess what? It doesn’t always happen like that. I think sometimes He speaks because He knows we are about to get a negative report and He wants us to trust Him NOT that negative report. It’s almost as if He is preparing us for the worst by telling us up front, “don’t worry, what THEY say isn’t what’s going to happen but what I told you, that’s what’s going to happen.” And yes, it can be tough to see “facts” in front of you while choosing to trust a WORD from God that you can’t see.
         And that’s what happened with Gerald. He had to remind himself of what God told him at the beginning even though afterwards he kept hearing negative report after negative report. It’s the same with us. No matter how negative, how challenging, how hopeless the situation may seem, remember the Word that God spoke to you and hold on to that. And if He hasn’t spoken maybe you need to ask Him what He’s saying to you in your situation. Sometimes we don’t know because we don’t ask.
         Over the years, God has taught me to know and to hear His voice. During challenging situations I have learned to trust in that still small voice that gives me hope and encouragement and even tells me how a thing is going to turn out. He speaks to me in different ways, through reading His Word, a sermon, a song, a movie, a dream, or especially through that still small voice all of which bring that conviction in my spirit that God has spoken. What confirms it is when that Word really does come to pass. 
         God’s promises are sure (2 Corinthians 1:20). If He promises a thing, He will bring it to pass. The nice thing is, we don’t have to strive to bring it to pass ourselves. There are times when He will guide us and show us what to do, but in those impossible times when your hands are tied and you can’t do a thing, trust what He has said to you and know He will bring it to pass. He is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19). He is the God of His Word and He can’t and will not go back on His Word to you.
         If you have not invited Jesus Christ into your life I encourage you to do so now. He is one who will never turn His back on you and will always keep His promises to you. He may not always do things in the way you might hope or expect, but whatever He does will be way better than anything you could ask or imagine.

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