5:00 am. I was literally running, attempting to exercise one last time before my surgery. I wanted the physical exertion. I needed a moment with God. Lord, please heal me. What happened next literally stopped me in my tracks.
Stefanie, I’m gonna heal you but you’re gonna have to walk through treatment first.
The words weren’t audible, yet blatantly burned in my mind. Standing still in the dark, my breath came in gasps- whether from physical taxation or emotional disbelief- I didn’t even try to segment it.
Eight months later I recalled that morning. Did I really think God had told me those words? I sure wanted to believe He did. But the cancer treatments were over. I read my medical reports and believed, I was too far gone. It looked like that cancer had spread. There was nothing more I could do, medically speaking.
My miracle would have to be learning to accept it.
The doctor said we’d redo my scans in 90 days. An eternity.
Yet I stayed busy and I prayed without ceasing. And three months later I received the phone call that confirmed I had heard right. I was actually cancer-free!
In Ezra 3:10, God’s people saw God’s promise fulfilled. This promise was hundreds of years old. They weren’t around when God had spoken the promise and they didn’t hear it directly from the first prophet. His children had ventured to other gods. They had strayed so far. Now convicted of so much wrong-doing they had to wonder if their God would dare keep His covenant of providing for them in their promised land.
Yet, He did.
Did they earn it? Did they deserve it?
Did I earn a healing? Did I deserve it?
No.
Yet He’s the God of grace and love. The God of His word.
But sometimes that story is bittersweet. Because not everyone has been at that celebratory moment.
But hold on. I think you will one day.
Your miracle is not impossible. Your celebration moment is not never, not nonexistent.
Cling to Him.
Trust in Him.
He can surprise us when we least expect it.
If you are tired of the wait, and would like someone to pray for you, please reach out. We would be honored to stand in the gap for you.
We need to ask God for His assistance to persevere in faith, for help in the wait. Let ‘s ask Him together for just that.
Prayer: Dear Lord, we praise You when we see the fulfillment of Your word. We also praise You in the wait. Lord, we lift to You those who are presently in the wait. Wrap Your arms around them. Thank You, Lord, You don’t make it one second longer than it has to be. Hold them. Reassure them. Strengthen them as they wait. In Jesus’ name, Amen.