Miracle

 Miracles are not only given to those who live holy, they can be given even to the least deserving of all once they are humbled and see that faith is the only hope.

This miracle starts with a man consumed by his own selfishness and lust but still with a knowledge of the Bible from the past. That man was me and even in the midst of this sin God began a work in my life.

I had been divorced and was now living in a beautiful oceanfront condo surrounded by bars so I could enjoy the views while I drank to no end in search of another woman for the night.  During this time I had met one woman who I remained friendly with, of all the many women I was with she was the only one I stayed in touch with and I now see that this was the beginning of the works of God. 

Over time she met a man and fell in love and they had a child.  He traveled with his work and she would ask me to help with handyman type repairs if he was unavailable and I happened to be sober enough to help at the time.  During these occasions I came to meet the little baby girl and inexplicably over time I came to love her even as much as I loved one of own children.  There was something about her innocence and sweetness and the little baby sounds she made as she amused herself that just melted my heart.  This was the continuance of God’s work.

About a year later the mother told me of a horrible situation that had developed in the child. The joints in her little skull had fused much too early and this was creating a life threatening situation due to her brain needing room to grow.  The situation required the doctors to perform a medieval procedure on the innocent baby to correct the issue. This process involved slicing her little scalp and rolling back her skin to expose her skull, then driving small wedges into the seems to reopen them and then rolling back the scalp and and sowing her back together with who knows what scaring and suffering to follow.  Her parents had resigned themselves to the doctors directions as they loved her and were in very great fear for her little life.

The thought of this happening to such a sweet and innocent beautiful child was devastating.  I understood how her parents felt and why they took their position but the thoughts of what was going to happen crushed my soul as if it was going to happen to one of my own children.  I was a miserable selfish sinner but I had read the Bible from cover to cover and a verse kept coming to my mind in the midst of the distress knowing the torture this baby girl faced.  

That verse is John 14:13 “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:14 If ye ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 

John 14:13-14 became my hope and my only focus.  While I was at that time the rich man facing the eye of the needle my foolish pride was being eradicated and replaced with a belief that John had given the answer. I believed this was my only hope and I needed faith filled prayer to heal this little baby girl. 

There was no one less deserving of the help of God than me, I needed help.  I went to all the locals I knew who believed in God and told them of what the little girl was facing and asked for their help in prayer. They all agreed.

My mother is a very religious person when I told her of the situation she was leaning towards the doctors. She had long been a hypochondriac and loved the medical establishment who she frequented at the slightest hint of an ailment. My father used to joke that when she died he was going to inscribe on her headstone “See, I told you I was sick” but he would never get that chance.  Her and I would sometimes argue about seeing too many doctors and I would always tell her  “if it’s not broke don’t fix it”  due my own negative experiences with the medical profession.  Nevertheless she also prayed and she had her church here in the US pray along with our family still in Belfast.  Now the little baby had prayer from two continents and while I feared that some were praying for doctors and not healing I knew they were better people than me and now God was hearing much petition for the child. 

The days dragged on and the surgery drew closer and my anguish and prayer intensified with each day. I knew that faith was required as we’re told in Mathew 17:20 and I also knew I was undeserving. I had no way to know what all the others were praying for but I prayed and begged only for healing and to save the little girl from this brutal procedure.  The uncertainty was torture and her parents resolve to have the surgery increased. 

Two days before the operation I received a call from the mother. The father had to travel and there was a preliminary meeting with the doctors the day before the surgery and she asked if I would go with her and the baby as she didn’t want to go alone. I was torn due to opposition to the whole thing and, but I agreed to be there. 

The next day came and it was one of the heaviest mornings of my life.  I arrived at their house and she put the baby in her child seat. I drove towards the doctors offices, the emotional pain was almost physical.  We got to the doctor’s office and put the baby in her stroller.  I pushed her around the lot and pretended to crash and tilted her back and she giggled and laughed all the while my heart sank further into my gut. We went into the waiting room and eventually a nurse came to take them.  I sat with the empty stroller but a minute later the door opened and they told me come in too. I didn’t want to be a part of it, I was on the verge of tears and I didn’t belong in there but her mother insisted.  I entered the room and stood off to the side while the baby was playing with the nurse.  Two doctors soon entered and one of them calmly touched the baby’s head while talking to her mother.  He explained that the final X-ray had shown some unexpected growth. He then turned to me and said he didn’t see a reason to perform the surgery if there was no real benefit.  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, her mother was in shock and so was I. 

The surgery was cancelled! 

My shock soon turned to joy and then the realization of what had just happened and who had done this began to sink in. As soon as we got outside of the doctors office I started calling and thanking all those who had prayed this day would come and letting them share in this joy and see the power of their prayer.

I didn’t belong in that room yet there I was. That doctor had turned to me and basically said “if it’s not broke don’t fix it”.  It was as if God was talking right to me, using my own words so I would know it was him. God had set it all up for me to be there that day due to the father traveling, for me to be in that room so I could hear that doctor, for me to remember John 14 and humble myself and beg and plead for night after night in Jesus name for the glory the father. Why of all the women I had known during this time was there only one I had stayed friendly with and why did I feel so strongly for this child who was not mine?  God had shown me through this little girl that I came to love as much as one my own that he loves us in the same way and has gone to even greater lengths and endured incredible suffering so that we could be spared.

This miracle was a long time in the making and had I not read the Bible in it’s entirety I would not have known we were able to ask for such things.   We need only the faith of a mustard seed.

May God bless you.