By Joshua Rogers, a writer and attorney who lives in Washington, D.C. Rogers blogs at: http://www.JoshuaRogers.com
My seven-month-old nephew Canaan (above) was dying and nobody knew it, including his doctor, who had misdiagnosed his digestive issues. The real issue was Hirschsprung’s disease, one of the leading causes of death for kids like Canaan, who has Down Syndrome.
One afternoon, Canaan became totally listless — to the point of almost looking dead. By the time my brother Caleb and his wife, Rebecca, got Canaan to the emergency room, his body had gone into septic shock. Doctors and nurses scrambled to rescue him as someone quickly ushered Caleb and Rebecca into the waiting area.
Right there in the emergency room, Rebecca did something remarkable. She got down on her knees and said, “God, I’m going to worship You right now. No matter what happens, You’re still holy. You’re still good.”
Four days after Canaan was admitted, a doctor sat down with Caleb and Rebecca and made it clear where things were headed: “Canaan is climbing a mountain that’s too high for him, and we’re just trying to make him comfortable at this point.”
Nothing could be done to save him — or so it seemed.
In the days before social media, we began a massive prayer movement with the help of an email that was forwarded around the world. Hundreds of people joined our family in standing in faith for Canaan.
A couple of days later, doctors reported that something unexplainable was happening: Canaan’s badly damaged small intestine was churning back to life. His little body was making a comeback.
It’s hard to convey the thrill of that news to everyone. There were cheers and celebratory emails going around, high-fives and hallelujahs. But after we got our breakthrough, the miracle got complicated.
Canaan gradually improved, but he still spent several weeks in the hospital. Since then, he has been through countless surgeries, survived serious infections and still has significant digestive problems.
Yes, he brings a great deal of love and joy to our family, but it comes with a heavy burden for him.
Our miracle didn’t fix everything.
Maybe you’re asking God for a miraculous intervention today. He may very well provide it — a baby, a spouse, a job, a financial breakthrough or healing. Until we get that miracle, it’s easy to think, “If I just get this one thing I’m asking for, I’ll know for sure that God is good.”
Miracles do powerfully reveal God’s goodness, but then we have to keep on living everyday life, which is often full of disappointment and grief.
We’re not alone in that though. “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, He learned obedience from the things He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). If Jesus, the miracle maker, didn’t get a pass on suffering, we won’t either.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who believe without seeing Me.” And in those lonesome hours when we can’t see Him, we’ve got to ask God for the gift of faith.
Only God can give us the grace to believe when it seems like there’s no miracle to be found; but when He does, the result is truly miraculous. We can, like my sister-in-law, bow down in the darkness and declare, “God, I’m going to worship You right now. No matter what happens, You’re still holy. You’re still good.”
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Hebrews 5:8 — Even though Jesus was God’s Son, He learned obedience from the things He suffered.
John 20:29 — Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Job 5:8-9 — If I were you, I would appeal to God. I would lay my cause before him. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
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PSALM 77:1-14:
1 I cried out to God for help;
I cried out to God to hear me.
2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
at night I stretched out untiring hands,
and I would not be comforted.
3 I remembered you, God, and I groaned;
I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.
4 You kept my eyes from closing;
I was too troubled to speak.
5 I thought about the former days, the years of long ago;
6 I remembered my songs in the night.
My heart meditated and my spirit asked:
7 “Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never show his favor again?
8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”
10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will consider all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”
13 Your ways, God, are holy.
What god is as great as our God?
14 You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.
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