Realigned Perspective

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6 KJV

A familiar scripture, yet in February 2000, it became fully alive to me forever! Awakened with the urgency to urinate but an inability to do so led to this remedy: Drink water. By morning, an overfull bladder joined the feeling of pins and needles in my lower legs and feet and difficulty walking. My family dressed and drove me to the doctor for neurological tests and draining my bladder — what a relief (amazing it hadn’t burst)! My doctor consulted with the nearby internist who concurred with the need for an MRI.

Putting me in a wheelchair and laying hands on my shoulders, my doctor prayed, “Lord, we don’t know why You’ve allowed this to happen, but we know you can heal her, and we ask you to do that in Jesus’ name.” A nurse wheeled me to the hospital across the parking lot for admittance to the neurological wing.

After a two-hour MRI, my doctor and the neurologist performed a spinal tap to rule out meningitis. When the fluid came out, my doctor exclaimed, “Halleluiah! It’s clear — just what we wanted to see!” Diagnosis: Transverse Myelitis at the T-6 vertebrae. Treatment: Immediate, massive, intravenous doses of cortisone to reduce swelling of the myelin (spinal cord lining).

Next morning, a nurse plopped fresh towels on the towel bar beyond the foot of the hospital bed. Trying to get up to straighten them, I couldn’t even turn my hips or move my legs! “Lord, this is ridiculous! I can’t even get up to straighten those towels!” This was the moment I realized my useless condition.

“You just wait and see what I can do,” was His immediate response! “I am the Truth, and the Truth overrules the facts!” From that point, I was just along for the ride — four of the best days of my life, as I saw firsthand what The Truth could do!

A prayer warrior visited the next morning, applying a prayer cloth to my right lower ankle and asking the Lord to heal me. A warm, electrical sensation accompanied this prayer! From then on, with every intravenous injection of cortisone, four inches of restored function progressively displaced paralysis from my trunk to my toes, and I walked out of the hospital after four days, declared a miracle by my doctor! He said, “This is leap year, and it is your year to leap for joy before the LORD”!

Lesson learned? Afflictions can realign our perspective and be opportunities for the ride of your life as the Truth overrules the facts!

Father, give us the eyes to see our afflictions as You see them. We know Your plan and purposes are good—ALL THE TIME. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.