Our Work and Trust

One of my daughters-in-law that visited during the Christmas holidays is an inspiration and a blessing to me. It’s been over a year now that as she was exercising, she experienced some pain in her upper back and weakness in her right leg. It was caused by a slow growing tumor on her spine that had been there for a number of years. The surgery for its removal was very damaging, causing paralyses in both of her legs. The good news is that it was a benign tumor. She is much disciplined in her professional and personal rehab. She does her part and she has turned the rest over to God.

During her visit this Christmas, she shared with the family in a deep way about her affliction and about how she is dealing with it. While she is intent about doing her part in her recovery, she is aware of the mindset necessary to aid in her full or partial recovery. Her faith is two-fold: She believes that she can get better in doing her part and she has faith in God that His will be done in her life. Whether it is in her and her doctor’s plan or in God’s plan she explains that she needs belief and faith in both plans.

She takes St. Paul’s words seriously as he stated in Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Another aspect of my daughter-in-law’s journey in healing seems more specific to her, but again, it is a two-fold action that includes her and the Lord. She realizes that she must reach out and do things to impact her healing, whether for personal gain or in seeking God in her life. In both instances, she sees a need to give and sacrifice in order to receive benefit and blessing. For her this is true for her part and is needed in seeking God’s help in His part of her healing.

She finds support in Isaiah 40:31 in hearing: “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

I have been with my daughter-in-law only a few times during the past year, as we live a good distance apart. I have, however, been able to see marked differences in her progress each time. She has gone from wheelchair only, to a walker, to a cane in these past visits. In this holiday season visit, I have seen a determined young woman take short journeys step by step, inch by inch without the aid of a cane or other device.

I see and hear that although she is doing much of the physical work in her improvement, she still holds to her convictions of a disciplined effort to do her part and trust God in His part in her life. She lives God’s Word through St. Paul in Hebrews 11:1-40: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.”

My daughter-in-law knows there are no guarantees for her, but she mirrors Psalm 112:7: “He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.”