God Answers Prayer

~God answers prayer in the morning ~ God answers prayer at noon ~ God answers prayer in the evening ~ so keep your heart in tune~

Bruce cut his hand about 2 weeks ago. Sliced it good and deep on a piece of sheet metal. It is his left hand, across the knuckle of his pointer finger. He should have probably gone to the Doctor and had it treated but, without insurance and him being out of work almost all this month... well, it seemed we could treat this at home.

By last Wed. night it was obvious infection had set in. His hand was so swollen he had to take his wedding ring off. Red streaks were starting to appear past the wrist. We had our first Alpha meeting that night so he was insistent that he would be fine. When we arrived at the church we prayed with Pastor Steve, for God to heal him.

I wanted instant- complete-stretch-out-your-hand-be-healed results. That was not what happened. On Thursday he went to the walk in clinic and was put on 2 different types of antibiotics and his arm was put in a splint to help immobilize the hand and keep the blood from pumping the infection further up his arm. within 24 hours the swelling was almost gone and by Sat. when he returned to the clinic for a re-check, the only part still looking red and sore was directly at the injury site.

In retrospect, I now understand that God did answer our prayers. It wasn't how I wanted it answered but God always has a plan and I am learning that trusting Him is ultimately the better choice to make. With infections such as cellulitis, which is what he had, it could have very quickly become a septicemia which could very well have resulted in death. I see how between Wed. night and Thurs. morning things could have gotten ever so worse. I believe God halted the progression of the infection at the point of our prayers.

Why? Why not heal him right away? Why did he have to go to the medical clinic for treatment? We didn't have the funds to pay for that.
But, oh, yes we did. The work that Bruce did have in between cutting his hand and going to the clinic, was enough to pay for the medical care needed. God provided the funds as we needed them.

We don't see all that God sees. He is always at work, always doing something and so often we are not aware of these things. But again, trusting His faithfulness, His goodness, is what we are called to do. Romans 8.28 says God causes all things to work together for good.  Why  Bruce had to go to the medical clinic we may not ever really know, but there was a reason.

This isn't a deep theological thought process I am going through. It is about something so very simple. Jesus says "do you trust me? will you trust me?"  Knowing what I know about God's nature, his character, learning what it is He can do, and can't do, what He will do and what He wont do, leads me to only one conclusion. One answer. Do I trust Him?

Yes.