Praise The Lord for my son's healing (long)

[KarenM]

Hi everyone,

These past few weeks have been both a blur and a nightmare, but ended in a blessing from The Lord, a blessing of the highest kind.

I'll be brief: my son contracted the Strep A bacteria several weeks ago, and while most people suffer with a sore throat and 10 days of anti-biotics, my son's illness was very rare and serious. The bacteria entered his bloodstream and went to every part of his body, settling in his hip. His hip became badly infected and he needed two separate operations to clear the pus and fluid from his body.

He was so ill that at one point, the doctors were only moments away from putting him in the ICU; his body and organs were beginning to fail and we believe he was only hours away from death. :cry:

He was discharged from the hospital yesterday and although he is feeling better, he still has a long way to go and is still in great pain.

Several things happened to me as I walked with The Lord during this time:

~I prayed harder than I have ever prayed before, praising Him and thanking Him before asking for anything.

~I was "attacked" twice by the enemy with negative and destructive thoughts, thoughts that questioned my faith, thoughts that worried me to the point of frustration and tears.

~I was also closer to God during this time than ever, and

~The Holy Spirit filled me with bible verses relevant to our family's suffering, worship music that spoke strength into me whenever I needed it, and led me to several pastors (one on radio, one on television) whose messages were also relevant at this time.

During this difficult time, I only prayed for God's will to be done... I know it is selfish to say, "Lord, please don't take my son from me. Please don't let him die." Any parent might say this, but I felt it was important to remind myself that we are all on God's timetable here, not ours. Whatever His will is for us and our loved ones, we are not to question it. HOWEVER, I have to say that losing a child would be the hardest thing I could ever go through, and I praise Him for not calling my son Home just yet.

Praise Jesus... my son lives! And I continue to pray for my son's comfort, healing, and peace.

Bless you all for reading and caring.

In Christ,
Karen

[ThirdGeneration]

Karen- I rejoice with you; that your son is home with you.

Truly, you have faced one of the difficult heart aches that any parent would ever have to face. I can hardly think of a greater agony than watching your child struggle in pain and yet remain helpless to do anything about it in the human realm.

Fortunatley you knew and recognized that God was ultimately in control and nothing was going to happen that He did not know or care about.

I commend your attitude and the strength you found in your trial by fire. I am in awe of you.....

However, I would like to add a thought for the days ahead that may seem somewhat contrary to an attitude of praise and thanksgiving only. Please consider it and do what you want with it.

I do not mean to detract from faith by any means; nor suggest that you should have handled things any differently than you did.

I only write for that which lies ahead as your son recovers and all your emotions catch up with you.

I believe that sometimes its ok to cry.... We can call out to God when we hurt without being brave. We do not have to be strong ALL the time. I would suggest that sometimes it is even ok to question God and wonder where He is in suffering.

I say that because our emotions are our emotions rather we try to cover them up or not. God knows the recesses of our heart so we do not need to deny such feelings exist (if they do).

It is a part of the human experience to feel joy and to conversely feel despair. In acknowledging our human weakness, God's strength is made whole.

The book of Psalms is so beautiful because it shows how real people pour out their hearts and souls to God in joy and in despair. They are not censured when they talk to God.

Consider that David struggled with prayers that seemed unanswered, "....I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into my own bosom" (Psalms 35:13).

I believe that our honest emotions expressed before God act like tears that rid our bodies of stress-induced toxins. Our brokeness before God seems to cleanse us of bitterness that might otherwise seep into our souls if we try to supress and deny our heartache and fears.

This idea can be observed in Psalms. Even as the writers poured out the their fears and heart ache; they began to write with a renewed trust and awe for God. Their lamentations most often ending with a real changes in the recesses of their heart.

Maybe it is possible to go face the most difficult circumstances in our lives only praising God and never questioning; but it seems that Psalms shows us a different story.

The Psalmist wrote, "They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy" (Psalms 126:5).

Perhaps then our deepest renewal through praise and thanksgiving comes only after tears and brokeness. We can trust God with our fears.... and praise him.

Karen, feel free to take what you want from this post or ignore it totally. I only mean this for strength in the future when you are feeling tired.

I know that God will sustain you....

[Goodshepherd]

Sis. Karen, my heart rejoice with you. God is the greatest healer and he has done it once again. He is such a wonderful savior. I am so glad for you..... continue to believe and rejoice. The joy of the Lord is your strength...........

Third, I taught that post was very encouraging for me. I too believe it is OK to cry because tears are a language our God understand. I remember Hannah. Eli mis-interpreted her sorrow, but the Lord knew her request and knew her heart.

When you are down in the valley feeling hopeless, all you can do is cry out to God. He will understand because the Holy Ghost maketh intercession for you.

Your weeping will turn to joy, your ashes will be turned to beauty, your fears will be replaced by strength, your despairs will be replaced by peace and your mourning will be replaced by gladness.

God bless you all.............

[KarenM]

Thank you for your replies.

I have indeed cried. It came on a night of tremendous attack from the enemy, though, and I felt weak and helpless. My daughter and I prayed hard together and rebuked the enemy's attacks, as she stroked my hair and wiped the tears from my cheeks.

Mostly, I feel calm and strong. My sister even remarked how well I was handling the situation, and all I could tell her was that it was God. I knew that is what it was, and is.

My son improves daily, praise Jesus.

In Christ,
Karen

[ddc101]

I am blessed by the replies for the sisters on this thread.You are truly ministers.
Sister Karen,
Like the old song says."I don't know what the future holds but I know who holds the future in his hands."
Whether your son lives or dies he is still in the hands of a loving father.Thankfully you still have him here with you.But if he would have gone to be with Jesus you would still have him with you in eternity.Children are given to us as gifts but these gifts are on loan.We still have to be able to lift our hands and thank Jesus whether the situation be painful or whether it be comforting.
We have to trust God.You have learned to lean on Jesus through this all.I have been told that to lose a child is the hardest hurt there is.I was told this by my mother who lost two sons.It took her years to get to the place of praise over it all but she did and now has gone to be with the Lord for all eternity herself.God is good and whatever the situation still sits on the throne.lv sis.c