File This One Under: "Miraculous"

My friend, H.G., was in a very serious motorcycle accident a couple of months ago.  He was not wearing a helmet and he sustained severe trauma to the head. I’m not a medical expert in any way, and most of you who are reading this probably are not, either. But all that’s required is some basic common sense to realize, from what I’ve written here, that this was an extremely critical situation.

The day the accident happened I rushed to the Intensive Care Unit to see him and, well, let’s put it this way, I was stunned and speechless. (If you know me well, you know that I’m not often speechless. I was that night.) I had seen the effects of a severe head injury before—it is disturbing—but when it’s a long-time friend, the sight is much more upsetting. I had some time alone with him in the room and I sat there and cried.

I was told, by people who do have medical expertise, that it did not look good. Further, the possibility of severe, permanent mental disability was said to be likely IF…IF...IF he even survived.  I went home from the hospital that night praying passionately for my friend, but honesty compels me to admit, I was also thinking about the possibility of officiating at his funeral. H.G. has been my friend since 7^th grade, as you can imagine, just thinking about a funeral brought me to tears several times as I drove home.

The next morning when I woke up, the first thing that came to my mind was my friend and the next thought was this: “God, I know you could heal him.”

Again, all of this happened a couple of months ago. Today, H.G. pleasantly shocked me by walking into church, using a walker, but standing tall and speaking with me about this incredible ordeal that he has recently endured (fortunately, there’s a lot about it that he does not remember) and talking about the rehabilitation work that he still has ahead of him. I didn’t know that he was coming to church—he surprised me—so, when I saw him standing in the lobby, well, I was stunned and speechless, AGAIN!  Some of the people who know me well are very excited about this “speechless” aspect of the story and are wondering if this can be engineered, somehow, on a more regular basis.

One of the interesting “coincidences”—and I’m using that word with a wink—about this story is that today the congregation graciously recognized myself and other key leaders at the church for “Pastor Appreciation Sunday”.  The basic aim is to thank the pastor and help him feel appreciated and, in a way, give him a shot of encouragement.

Seeing my friend at church added an extraordinary EXTRA dimension to the love and appreciation and encouragement that I received today. I’m still partially stunned even as I write these words…but, obviously, you can tell from the length of this message that I’m a little less speechless.

My friend’s presence at church today is, without question, an amazing answer to prayer. It is, medically speaking, miraculous that he would be up and around and walking and spending the morning at a church service. I thank God. I praise God. This story reveals a tremendous manifestation of His goodness.

It was just a few weeks ago that I woke up the morning after the accident and thought, “God, I know you could heal him.” God is helping me turn “I know” you could heal him into “I   K N O W…I REALLY KNOW…through witnessing a first-hand manifestation of your power and activity in this matter…I KNOW you can heal him!”

All glory and honor and praise to God!