Living in
Florida, hurricanes are just a part of life.
In the nearly three decades I have lived in the Sunshine State, I have
been directly impacted by at least five hurricanes not to mention numerous
tropical storms and depressions. While
Hurricane Wilma did the most damage in my immediate area, the most memorable
for me personally was Hurricane Jeanne. It was September 2004 and everyone was
a bit on edge because our area had just been hit with Hurricane Frances at the
beginning of the month.[1] Thursday
night before the storm was supposed to hit over the weekend, I was on my way
from the parking lot to the Florida Atlantic University library for a class in
my library science master’s degree program.
I had my car keys in my left hand, and I just dropped them. I picked them up and put them back in my left
hand and I dropped them again. It seemed
odd but I did not pay it much attention.
The next day (which happened to be my birthday) at work, I noticed my
left hand seemed numb which made it hard to type on my computer but I was
mostly focused on the impending storm.
Saturday, I did all my hurricane preparations and moved with my Aunt and
Uncle to my mom’s house to ride out the storm.
Jeanne hit on Sunday and we were fortunate to come out of it relatively
unscathed.
Monday morning, I noticed that my
left hand was completely paralyzed. I
could not even tie my shoes. Mom had
missed the storm as she was visiting her cousin in South Carolina. I did not want to worry my elderly Aunt and
Uncle, so I just let them drive me home and did not mention the situation with
my hand. Once I got home, I called my
doctor to see if I could get an appointment.
The doctor was out of town but his nurse said I really should go to the
emergency room. I hung up and was on the
verge of tears because I had no idea how I would get to the hospital as I knew
I could not drive with only one functioning hand. Just a minute or two later, I got a call from
my friend, Kristine. She was just
calling to check up on me to see how I had fared during the storm. I tearfully explained my situation and she
dropped everything to give me a ride to the hospital.
It turned out I had had a
stroke. I was totally surprised because
I thought strokes happened suddenly. One
of the nurses explained that while the stroke itself does happen in an instant,
the manifestations of the stroke can appear gradually as mine had done. My stroke was not due to any of the usual
causes of stroke, it happened because I had a hole in my heart known as patent
foramen ovale (PFO). Today PFOs are usually discovered shortly after birth, but
adults often only discover this condition after they have had a stroke.
The next weeks and months provided
another opportunity to remember that weakness is my strong suit. I spent 10 days in the hospital trying to get
my blood thin enough to go home. When I
went back to work, I had to depend on friends and family to drive me as my hand
was still paralyzed. Many people were
praying for me and God answered their prayer by restoring the use of my hand amazingly
fast. My physical therapist was astonished. About six months later, I underwent a
procedure to have the hole in my heart closed.
Now by the grace of God, I have less risk of having another stroke than
the average American.
Problems like hurricanes and stokes
come into all our lives. In these cases,
I could not prevent catastrophe from heading my way, though at least for the hurricane,
I could prepare in advance. There is a promise in the Bible that never
makes it into those encouraging little devotional books of God’s promises: “In
this world you will have trouble…” (John
16:33b, NIV) It is a distinctively American delusion, taught by many prosperity
preachers, that God wants you to be healthy, wealthy and problem free. He promises trouble but as the rest of the
verse reminds us, Jesus gives us strength to prevail over our problems: “But
take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33c, NIV) I haven’t quite made
it there yet, but in the advanced class on suffering you can actually learn to
rejoice in trials:
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and
trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops
strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of
salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how
dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts
with His love. (Romans 5:3-5, NLT)
My good friend, Lois Daley, is one of the best examples
of weakness being a strong suit. In the
almost twenty years I have known Lois she has had a wide variety of health
problems. She has been to the Cleveland
Clinic so many times, I think she is on a first name basis with all the doctors
and other medical personnel there. About
10 years ago, she had a malignant tumor that was bigger than her head. God completely healed her of this tumor—even
her surprised doctors called it a miracle.
These days she is in almost constant pain but instead of being
discouraged Lois has relied on God and seen her faith grow. She has often told me: “I consider that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18, NKJV) Lois treats her many
hospital stays as trips to her personal mission field. She visits the other patients on her floor to
encourage them, pray for them and sometimes introduce them to Jesus. As long as I have known Lois, I can say she
has truly lived out her life verse which is “For to me to live is Christ, and
to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21, KJV)
Learning the Lesson:
Meditate on the
following passage then answer the questions below:
Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The
Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak
or weary. No one can measure the depths of His understanding. He gives power to
the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will
find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and
not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31, NLT)
- v How is God
described in these verses?
- v What does He give
to the weak and the powerless?
- v What will happen
to those who trust in Him?
- v How can you rely on
God’s strength today?
[1] In fact, Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne were eerily
similar. According to Wikipedia, “Jeanne
made landfall later in the day in Florida just 2 miles (3 kilometers) from
where Frances had struck a mere 3 weeks earlier”.
No comments:
Post a Comment