“…it’s not everyone God can trust with trouble…”
…words a friend sent to me days after my eye surgery. He had just shared some of his own recent health obstacles with me via our internet chat and we both were thankful that God was present even in adversity. I recalled Job’s words to his wife who attempted to persuade him to curse God and give up – Job replied, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”
Up until early Saturday morning, I still had my own left eye. It hadn’t worked all that well since I was a kid, but still looked normal except for the last couple of years. Glaucoma, having deteriorated its normal functioning, made my life more difficult because of the pain and discomfort it caused on a consistent basis. And then it became infected, and the seriousness of that infection didn’t hit me and Sarah until Friday when my eye doctor said it needed to be removed immediately – “If it were me, I would have it removed tomorrow” he said.
So with surgery arranged for Saturday at 7:30 AM, Sarah and I asked our friends from church to gather and pray one last time that maybe, just maybe God might heal me. He said ‘no’ to the miraculous, but He has been with us through all this. That Friday night at prayer I noticed my trepidation receded and my reliance on God increased.
At my follow-up appointment this past Monday the Doctor said all the infection was in the eye, and had not progressed to my head. He also said I was healing up well, that the skin around my eye already looked healthier and that I could return to my normal schedule if I wanted to. In a few weeks I will see an occularist to have a temporary eye prosthetic put in the front part of the eye (the ball is already in there with some of my eye muscles attached to it) while a customized eye — completely matching my eye is created — which could take up to four months.
In the meantime I am wearing a patch, looking to buy some other patches to use – friends have suggested various kinds that would look good – including denim and rhinestones. My life is beginning to return to a level of normalcy. I am not dealing with much emotional turmoil, because my eye had always been less than useful and I have learned to live with one eye. But there is still healing, and there is the lingering effects of anesthesia. Thanks for the prayers, which we would still appreciate in the ongoing fallout of emergency surgery – we have no idea how big the bill will be and it is still not done i.e. the prosthetic, learning to live with a fake eye, etc.
I am unwilling to say God doesn’t allow peril into our lives. The echo of Mr Beaver’s words to Lucy in The Chronicles of Narnia about Aslan hover in my heart – God is not safe, but He is good. He has, as my friend shared, “entrusted me” with trouble and I am learning to honor that privilege.
Thanks for helping me, friends and family.
Still praying for you, friends! So much sorrow but you are our heroes!
Kirk and Sarah
God will sustain you. Am praying for excellent healing and that all will go well with all that is required with fittings and so on and that your healthy eye will stay very healthy and for added strength for both you and Sarah as you go through the healing process together. II Cor. 1:3-5
Jeanne
Our prayers are for your full recovery and Sarah as she looks after you. Praise to our GOD for a skilled surgeon and a successful surgery and no further infection.
To GOD belongs all Glory, Praise & Honor, .
Psalm 33:18 & 20-22
We have been and will continue to pray for your complete recovery. Many times we don’t understand why God allow something to happen but we can always be comforted in knowing that He has a higher reason for what happens in our life. We may not understand until we get to heaven but the song “When we all get to Heaven” reflect on this.
Please let everyone know what the medical expenses will be.
Thanks for your encouraging update. Our prayers continue for your healing and return to a normal life – whatever that may be. God is Sovereign!
Blessings, Paul & Barbara
We are so glad all is going well. We will continue to keep you and Sarah in our prayers. God bless!!
Glad to read this positive update. We at EP have been praying and will continue to do so.
God bless!
Kirk, your friend’s statement is very timely, considering that I have been diagnosed with yet another disorder that adds & explains recent surges to my chronic pain. But God has been by my side through it all, reaching back to my diagnosis of arthritis and degenerative disk disorder, car accident in Dec 2012, ruptured disk & surgery in May 2013, from which I still feel constant pain at varying levels in my lower back, & now Fibromyalgia. But God has used it to grow me closer to Him, esp recovering from surgery, because I could hardly walk, so I spent time reading a wonderful devotional and His word. I am more convinced of His love for me than ever.Not that all was rosy. I have been through periods of darkness. But my compassion has grown deeper, and though I can’t do as much in/for the church that can be “seen,” Iam alive and kicking striving to do what I can on the more spiritual, private side of things.
…Like pray for you, though I was not present at the prayer meeting that Friday night (was unaware of it), my heart and prayers were with you and will continue to be. There”s blessing even in the “trouble”: your successful healing from your surgery; your ability to get back to everyday life so soon. I’m not walking with a cane or using the little electric carts in the grocery store anymore (mostly). Even when pain is excruciating & I can barely walk, I still think “You can walk, by the grace of God.” Thank you for your encouraging story and giving glory to God. Hope my story lets you know that there are many of us who are working through “trouble.” There is a time when I WOULD have cursed God for all of this. (again, I DO have my times of discouragement and venting), but what a beautiful oxymoron to find blessing in all of this.
I will continue to pray, as there are more steps in your “eye journey” yet to come, and I ask that you, or anyone who reads this will pray for me as well. Time to get out of this chair and stretch; my back is is reaming!
Blessings,
Eleanor