...far more often than we realize.
It's been a crazy 24 hours, eh. Let me start from the beginning.
Last week Tuesday a good friend of mine's father was rushed to the hospital for bleeding on his brain. After emergency surgery Wednesday morning, he appeared to be doing better, especially as his toes began to wiggle on Thursday. However, yesterday morning we found out that this wasn't a sign of his brain communicating with his body (because of the bleeding and surgery, his brain swelled, messing with his brainstem and preventing his brain and body from communicating with one another) but simply reflexes. His brain still wasn't communicating with his body. Because of this, the family decided to take him off of life support unless he miraculously became responsive.
After hearing how serious the situation had become, a small group of us headed to the hospital to support our friend. Afterward, we began our prayer war. We literally spent the next 20 hours praying for the family. Originally, the family had decided on removing life support at 5pm, so we prayed up unto that moment and following it. Then we found out that they decided to postpone until 8pm so they could donate his heart and other organs. At 10:29pm, Gary went home to the LORD.
Given the title of this post, that probably wasn't the ending of the story you expected or hoped for. However, despite his passing, God's hand is clearly visible in this entire situation. I've heard countless testimony of people's lives that it's impacted, of things that God has taught my friends through this experience and seeing the strength of the family. I can't speak for my friends, but I can share all that God's been teaching and showing me.
When I visited my friend at the hospital, I was really surprised by how genuinely well she was doing. At first I brushed it off as simple shock or denial, but later realized that this was incorrect. She was genuinely at peace. Time and time again she spoke of the comfort that she felt, spoke of how evident God's presence was in all of this. She had a genuine hope. It amazed me! She is a true testimony of the reality that our hope isn't in this world, in anything of this world. Our hope is in Christ alone. She (and we) has that eternal hope. She rests securely that her dad's life isn't over. True, his body is dead, but his soul, his true life, lives on. What an incredible reminder for when we face the crap of this world! Our God is greater! Our God is stronger! For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (2 Cor 4:17). Praise God that He is the God of hope!
God's also been revealing His power throughout this whole thing. Last night as we wrestled in prayer for our sister and her family, God kept reminding me that it isn't life support that's keeping her dad alive. God alone breathes life into us. He alone is the author and sustainer of life. God is greater than technology, greater than science. If it's God's will for Gary to continue living, removing life support isn't going to change things. And if it's God's will for Gary to leave this earth, life support isn't going to keep Him here. The God that we serve is greater still. He is more powerful than anything on this earth or above or below it. Great is our God!
Ok, huge miracle here! After praying with a small group of people last night, I really felt the burden to blanket this family in prayer. Each of us at the meeting agreed to taking one hour of our day to pray for her, covering 9am-5pm today. However, I felt a longing for more prayer, to pray for them continuously from the time our original prayer meeting ended until 5pm, when they were to take him off life support. So I began texting people asking them to dedicate an hour of their time to pray for the family. Most of the people that I texted didn't even know the family and only knew minimal details about the situation. Regardless, every single person that I texted agreed to pray. People who didn't even know the family were praying fervently for them, giving up precious sleep for a sister in Christ and her family that they'd never even met. Now that is the work of the Church! I was blown away by those who agreed to pray during the wee hours of the night; all of this had never even met the family. Wow! Just wow! What a mighty God we serve who is able to unite people literally around the world unified in prayer. Wow! Just wow! Within an hour and a half, we had the entire time covered; at least one person was praying from 9:30pm Tuesday night until 5pm Wednesday night. Every hour was covered except one. I racked my mind for who else to call on to cover that one hour. Remembering God's prayer, I confidently texted my friend letting her know that she and her family would be blanketed in prayer all night and the next day; I knew that God would fill that spot. Literally right after I texted my friend, another friend popped on Skype asking for an update. When I asked her if she'd pray for that hour, she agreed instantly. Wow! God is so good! LORD, forgive me for not even having the faith of a mustard seed.
When I heard the news that her father wasn't going to make it, my heart ached even more for my friend. When I asked how she was doing, I was shocked to see that she was still doing well. In fact, she was rejoicing! The loss of her dad brought new life to 6 people who received his organs. My friend rejoiced that her dad could continue to help people. Wow! Her strength, courage, and perspective continues to amaze me. As we were praying for the family last night, another friend prayed, "LORD, this isn't the miracle that we were hoping for, but it is a miracle for the family receiving the heart. Thank You for answering their prayer. Thank You for using what was intended for evil, distruction, and pain for life and hope." Just more evidence of the hope that we have. :-)
Though I never met her father, the legacy that he leaves behind is amazing! Have you guys ever heard the story about keeping your fork? If not, ask me about it sometime. Gary asked to be buried with a fork, knowing that the best is yet to come. He asked that if it ever got to the point where he was suspended between this life and the next, don't keep him from going Home. Wow! More evidence of the hope that we have. What a mighty God we serve!
Please continue to pray for my friend and her family. They have been amazingly strong in all of this. Pray that God continues to grow their faith. Pray that He continues to overwhelm them with His peace, comfort, and hope. Pray that He comforts them as they deal with their loss. Pray that they continue to feel His presence. Pray that He fills them with rest, true rest.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5
It's been a crazy 24 hours, eh. Let me start from the beginning.
Last week Tuesday a good friend of mine's father was rushed to the hospital for bleeding on his brain. After emergency surgery Wednesday morning, he appeared to be doing better, especially as his toes began to wiggle on Thursday. However, yesterday morning we found out that this wasn't a sign of his brain communicating with his body (because of the bleeding and surgery, his brain swelled, messing with his brainstem and preventing his brain and body from communicating with one another) but simply reflexes. His brain still wasn't communicating with his body. Because of this, the family decided to take him off of life support unless he miraculously became responsive.
After hearing how serious the situation had become, a small group of us headed to the hospital to support our friend. Afterward, we began our prayer war. We literally spent the next 20 hours praying for the family. Originally, the family had decided on removing life support at 5pm, so we prayed up unto that moment and following it. Then we found out that they decided to postpone until 8pm so they could donate his heart and other organs. At 10:29pm, Gary went home to the LORD.
Given the title of this post, that probably wasn't the ending of the story you expected or hoped for. However, despite his passing, God's hand is clearly visible in this entire situation. I've heard countless testimony of people's lives that it's impacted, of things that God has taught my friends through this experience and seeing the strength of the family. I can't speak for my friends, but I can share all that God's been teaching and showing me.
When I visited my friend at the hospital, I was really surprised by how genuinely well she was doing. At first I brushed it off as simple shock or denial, but later realized that this was incorrect. She was genuinely at peace. Time and time again she spoke of the comfort that she felt, spoke of how evident God's presence was in all of this. She had a genuine hope. It amazed me! She is a true testimony of the reality that our hope isn't in this world, in anything of this world. Our hope is in Christ alone. She (and we) has that eternal hope. She rests securely that her dad's life isn't over. True, his body is dead, but his soul, his true life, lives on. What an incredible reminder for when we face the crap of this world! Our God is greater! Our God is stronger! For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (2 Cor 4:17). Praise God that He is the God of hope!
God's also been revealing His power throughout this whole thing. Last night as we wrestled in prayer for our sister and her family, God kept reminding me that it isn't life support that's keeping her dad alive. God alone breathes life into us. He alone is the author and sustainer of life. God is greater than technology, greater than science. If it's God's will for Gary to continue living, removing life support isn't going to change things. And if it's God's will for Gary to leave this earth, life support isn't going to keep Him here. The God that we serve is greater still. He is more powerful than anything on this earth or above or below it. Great is our God!
Ok, huge miracle here! After praying with a small group of people last night, I really felt the burden to blanket this family in prayer. Each of us at the meeting agreed to taking one hour of our day to pray for her, covering 9am-5pm today. However, I felt a longing for more prayer, to pray for them continuously from the time our original prayer meeting ended until 5pm, when they were to take him off life support. So I began texting people asking them to dedicate an hour of their time to pray for the family. Most of the people that I texted didn't even know the family and only knew minimal details about the situation. Regardless, every single person that I texted agreed to pray. People who didn't even know the family were praying fervently for them, giving up precious sleep for a sister in Christ and her family that they'd never even met. Now that is the work of the Church! I was blown away by those who agreed to pray during the wee hours of the night; all of this had never even met the family. Wow! Just wow! What a mighty God we serve who is able to unite people literally around the world unified in prayer. Wow! Just wow! Within an hour and a half, we had the entire time covered; at least one person was praying from 9:30pm Tuesday night until 5pm Wednesday night. Every hour was covered except one. I racked my mind for who else to call on to cover that one hour. Remembering God's prayer, I confidently texted my friend letting her know that she and her family would be blanketed in prayer all night and the next day; I knew that God would fill that spot. Literally right after I texted my friend, another friend popped on Skype asking for an update. When I asked her if she'd pray for that hour, she agreed instantly. Wow! God is so good! LORD, forgive me for not even having the faith of a mustard seed.
When I heard the news that her father wasn't going to make it, my heart ached even more for my friend. When I asked how she was doing, I was shocked to see that she was still doing well. In fact, she was rejoicing! The loss of her dad brought new life to 6 people who received his organs. My friend rejoiced that her dad could continue to help people. Wow! Her strength, courage, and perspective continues to amaze me. As we were praying for the family last night, another friend prayed, "LORD, this isn't the miracle that we were hoping for, but it is a miracle for the family receiving the heart. Thank You for answering their prayer. Thank You for using what was intended for evil, distruction, and pain for life and hope." Just more evidence of the hope that we have. :-)
Though I never met her father, the legacy that he leaves behind is amazing! Have you guys ever heard the story about keeping your fork? If not, ask me about it sometime. Gary asked to be buried with a fork, knowing that the best is yet to come. He asked that if it ever got to the point where he was suspended between this life and the next, don't keep him from going Home. Wow! More evidence of the hope that we have. What a mighty God we serve!
Please continue to pray for my friend and her family. They have been amazingly strong in all of this. Pray that God continues to grow their faith. Pray that He continues to overwhelm them with His peace, comfort, and hope. Pray that He comforts them as they deal with their loss. Pray that they continue to feel His presence. Pray that He fills them with rest, true rest.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5
