It doesn’t matter what happens in our lives we still have the ability to acknowledge where our help comes from and how we’re shielded. It was about 14 years ago now that I had one of the biggest seizures of my life and ended up in a coma because the neurologist on staff went home and said I wasn’t actually seizing. Ever had one of these emergencies where your condition isn’t acknowledged?

He told my husband to go home too. Except my husband couldn’t go home because I was in dangerous territory. I wasn’t actually aware of my existence and my husband knew it.

Imagine a Dr. not doing their job to such a degree they put a patients life at risk. Unfortunately, it happens every day. I came out of that situation with no voice, no short-term memory and no immune system to speak of. It was in this state I spent some of the most beautiful time I’ve yet spent in the hospital.

One of these moments is hard for me to forget. My meds had to be dosed very specifically and Dr.’s had been messing it up. My husband, Grant, was constantly on guard, checking to make sure they were right.

I was still, helpless, voiceless.

But, I could still acknowledge God, my Help and Shield.

I could see Grant, talking to doctors outside my hospital door. I could see, but I couldn’t reach out to him. Waving my arms wasn’t bringing him to me. I could see his face. It was tired and worn, frustrated.

At that moment I saw a purple cloud coming through the doorway. It went past his shoulder and around the doctor, coming into my room. I was sure I was hallucinating.

Except, my mind was clear.

I did a quick inventory of what hallucination meant. I was sure this wasn’t it.

The purple cloud was over my bed now. I lifted my arm. When I ran my fingers through it, it split like fog and moved back together. I lay underneath it, a sweet peace settling around me. I’d never felt peace in the middle of a hallucination before.

I had not been sleeping well. My body was broken from all the poking and prodding. Bruising was everywhere. But, I was getting sleepy now and my anxiety had melted away. I fell asleep under that cloud.

This was the moment Grant was able to get through to the Dr. about the proper med dose.

Prayer transforms situations:

We talked to my family a few days later and found out there had been men and women agreeing in prayer that night for my situation. My family had been praying at the exact time I saw the purple cloud, the exact time Dr.’s were about to make a mistake with medication that could have cost my life. And, yes, the exact time my husband was fighting to hold it together and not lose the emotional battle as he tried to convince Dr.’s to help me.

Prayer … matters. God hears from heaven. I have been met because of them.

My mom had asked God to meet me where no one else could. He did.

That’s the beautiful thing about God … he can meet us where no one else can, when no one else can.

I began to discover through letters and conversations with people after leaving the hospital, just how many men and women had been praying for me. Alone was not my status. It never had been. And, it’s probably not yours, even if you think it is.

IT’S NOT NEW:

Jehoshaphat was a king in the bible who experienced God meeting him. He acknowledged God, for the most part. He made his share of mistakes like any man would. But, He knew God was His Help and Shield.

There was an army coming for him, so he tells his people to fast and then he stands in front of them and delivers this speech:

1: Acknowledge who you are and who God is (help and shield):

“Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. ⁷ Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? ⁸ They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, ⁹ ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’

2. Acknowledge What God has planned & cry out expectantly:

¹⁰ “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. ¹¹ See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. ¹² Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

3. Acknowledge whose battle it is: He will help and shield you!

If you’d like to read the full story go to 2 Chronicles 20. These men stand before the Lord and the Spirit of the Lord comes on one man to deliver a message that says:

‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. ¹⁶ Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”

What Battle Are You In? Have You Been Trying to Fight It Alone?

If I were going to rewrite this prayer in my own life it might look something like this:

“God, see how they ignore me by rejecting my existence and destroying the body you gave me which bears your name. How can this be the way do no harm plays out? If calamity comes upon me I will stand in your prescence, rejoicing. But, don’t you see how the light of life is being stolen from those you gave it to. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

You have so much power by placing your eyes on Jesus and admitting you don’t have the answer.

Don’t fight alone. Expect help.

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