Unity Under Our Living God

I’d like to tell you a story about Jesus. The fact that He’s loving, merciful and wants us all to be in unity ... In unity as the ‘body of Christ’ to love, serve Him and other people. It doesn’t matter what color your skin is or your nationality. We are all created in God’s image.

Genesis 1:27 - So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

My story is something unique to me and can’t be rebuked, changed or taken away. It’s just a fact ... as are the miracles I witnessed. Facts are facts. With confidence, I can say that I am a first-hand eye-witness to God’s amazing works of love, mercy, healing and transformation in my life and the lives of others. Here’s my story.

Years ago, someone very close to me suffered a traumatic brain injury.

This is not easy for me to write, so I will spare you (and me) some of the details and focus on events that illustrate God’s love, mercy and forgiveness.

Experiencing a family member with a traumatic brain injury, it’s suffering, brokenness and recovery was certainly a slow and scary process … and it still is. It was an emotional roller coaster. What I do know is that the only constant was and is God … we really needed Him.

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and my wife and I had just returned home from church. I was preparing to BBQ chicken on the grill. I was sipping my drink by the grill when I received ‘that’ phone call. We were horrified and quickly rushed to the hospital.

When we arrived, the hospital’s clergyman met us at the door. When the first person who meets you at the hospital is clergy, you know it’s a bad situation.

My first instinct was to pray to God for help. But why God? What is God going to do in a situation like this? Isn’t it really the doctors, nurses and technology that do the healing? Yes and No. I understand that it took the skills of a diverse group of people working in unity to ease the suffering, sustain life and aid in recovery. I am also very thankful for the doctors, nurses and supporting cast at the hospital. But where does God fit into this?

I submit to you that God is the One who called these guardians to their work and gifted them as a collective society the unity, materials, tools, knowledge and abilities to serve Him and serve others to accomplish His work. With all their skills and abilities, it was God who was doing the real healing.

This became apparent as I asked the doctors questions about outcomes and recovery timelines. When asked: “Will the patient live?”. They would always answer, “I don’t know”. When asked “When would the patient come out of their coma?” The answer was, ”I don’t know”. Our doctors and nurses knew how to keep the patient breathing, medicated and hydrated, but when it came right down to it, nobody could predict or determine the outcome of this injury, the suffering it caused or the duration of recovery. This is what we we're positive of:

Psalm 46:10 - Be still and know that I am God.

As you can imagine, It was really hard to be helpless and to be still, but besides praying, it’s all anyone could do. There were people around the world praying for us. In the midst of it all, the doctors could see that after weeks of being by the comatose patient’s side, it was taking a toll on me. I wasn’t sleeping well and I didn’t feel like eating at all. Could it be that God created us to naturally fast when it’s necessary so that we can pray in a focused way?

1 Corinthians 7:5 - Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.

At this point, what else could anyone do but turn to God in prayer? God hears our prayers and answers. Isn’t it comforting to know that our natural reaction was to fast and pray? It just shows our deep connectedness to God and His will. During this difficult time, we also turned to God’s Word for comfort. In the midst of worry and helplessness, we turned to Philippians 4:6-7. Where God tell us:

Philippians 4:6-7 - Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

The healing began! Our prayers transitioned from, “God please help us…” Then became, “Thank you God”. Just like Philippians 4:6-7 says. When we submitted all of our requests to God and God’s peace came to guard us, our prayers turned into gratefulness and appreciation. In many ways, those prayers of thanksgiving were reinforcing what God has done for us every step of the way ... showing us real progress in the midst of chaos. It’s safe to say that God is so very strong when we are broken and weak. Just like He tells us:

2 Corinthians 12:9 - “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”

When we feel strong and things are going our way, we are lulled into a false sense of security. So, let’s remember not to take God’s gift of life to us for granted, especially when we feel strong. Remember, life is good until you’re weak and broken. The good news is that our God is a powerful, living God and He is strong in our weakness.

Zephaniah 3:17 - For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

At this point, you’re probably wondering what the outcome was...how is the patient? Let’s just put it this way:

• God loves us.
• Faith matters.
• Prayer works.
• It’s a long road to rehab and recovery.
• Keep praying for my family.

After all that God has done for me and for those around me, I hope that my story is something that will help you through life’s peaks and valleys. I also hope that my story will inspire hope and unity in Jesus, uplift others and glorify God.