By John W. Schmidt
I think one of the reasons the Psalms are so powerful and helpful is because of all the difficulties, battles, and troubles King David went through in his life. Come to think of it, isn’t that what so many of God’s “greats” had in common—Abraham, Moses, the prophets, Jesus, and His disciples? Yet they held on to God, who gave them such amazing victory out of seeming defeat.1
Thinking about this comforted me when I saw what my dear wife had to go through recently after an operation. Looking at her the day after, with tubes going in and out all over her body, was not easy. She’d had a pretty difficult start in life and this was only one of a number of operations she’d had.
In the hospital I had to face what many people go through every day—sicknesses, difficulties, even death at times. I can only thank God for His grace, strength, Word, comfort, and Spirit. I feel sorry for those who don’t know Him and don’t have Him to hold on to. Being in the ICU made me feel as if I was walking through the valley of the shadow of death, but those who have the Lord can say, like David in his great 23rd Psalm, “I will fear no evil, for You, Lord, are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”2 Psalm 91 and so many other Psalms have more great promises and comfort. I was touched by the testimony of Abigail Smith in the Anchor post “A Legacy of Hope,” how she showed faith and peace in God even when facing death.
When in the midst of a battle like this, it’s so important to hold on to God and His Word and to speak about it. In some countries people have great faith in God and it’s easy to talk about prayer in such situations. In other countries people have no faith in the spirit world at all. But even there it is important to uplift the Lord and the power of prayer as much as people can understand and receive. It was such a joy when we thanked the doctor who did the operation and talked about the power of prayer, and he admitted thathe could only do so much and that God has to do the actual healing.
This experience gave me more of a heart for doctors and nurses. Those in this profession who are close to Jesus have such an advantage. Their trust in God can enable them to face the suffering of their patients with faith and cheerfulness. The powerful testimony of Dr. Benjamin Carson in the Anchor post “In His Image” was outstanding and shows how we can go through the darkest valleys and come through to the light with God’s help. That’s one reason we sometimes go through those dark experiences, so we can comfort others.3
Another victory we can gain from facing troubles and sicknesses is that it helps us to shed unimportant matters and get our mind on the Lord and the things that count in life. Such tests can strengthen our faith even more than if everything goes smoothly.
“Sometimes it’s an even greater testimony to your faith when everything doesn’t turn out as you wanted or expected—even though you prayed and did everything else you were supposed to—and you still trust Me.”—Jesus, speaking in prophecy4
These tests teach us patience and give us hope for seemingly hopeless situations.
“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”—Romans 5:3–5
During one of my visits to the ICU, I had to wait for my wife to wake up from her nap, so I drove to a quiet area and took a nap in the car. I woke up to an amazing experience, which was like a dream, a vision, and a real experience all at once. It was one of those rare experiences where I knew “it” was all true, all the things we read in the Bible, all the things we’ve learned about the spirit world. At this moment I saw and felt the reality of it all. It wasn’t by faith at that moment; it was real to me. I could relate to what Jacob must have felt after the dream he had when he was going through it so much and needed some encouragement from God.5 God is good and will not tempt us above what we can handle, but will give us the victory every time.6
And last I’d like to acknowledge the power of intercession. Even if we sometimes trust our lives into the hands of doctors, we still need to pray for God to heal us, as only He can do the miracle of healing. We are so thankful for all our precious brethren and friends who prayed for my wife’s healing, because it worked. Her healing was also a great witness to our Christian friends, as it showed them God’s miracle-working power as she recovered so well so fast. Even a nonbeliever nurse who was taking care of her during her hospital stay said that it was a miracle how my wife’s health improved so much in one week.
“O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.”—Psalm 30:2
1 See Hebrews 11:33–35, 1 Corinthians 15:57, 2 Corinthians 4:8–9, 16–17.
2 Psalm 23:4.
3 See 2 Corinthians 1:4.
4 From Jesus with Love—My Healing Touch.
5 See Genesis 28:12–17.
6 See 1 Corinthians 10:13.
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