God has a way to lift your spirits when you get knocked down unexpectedly. Our church this week lost a precious young lady that we believed God was healing. We were told by doctors things were looking good and we were trusting the Lord for a miracle. She got her miracle, but not as we expected, for the Lord took her home to be with Him. She was important to our church family and this has devastated many of them because of the good reports we were getting from her medical staff about her condition. While trying to make some sense out of everything that has happened the past few days I found this newspaper story by chance. Or maybe it was Divinely ordered that I read and write about this in Aretta's honor today. The story goes like this:
A woman in rural Florida who was recuperating from a lengthy illness. She enjoyed sitting on her front porch in her wheelchair and, on this day, she watched her son repair his automobile. He raised it on blocks of wood, removed the tires and slid on his back underneath the vehicle.
Suddenly there was a loud crack and the automobile lurched to one side, pinning the young man underneath. She screamed for her husband who ran to assist, but he couldn't budge the car or the young man. He climbed into his own vehicle and sped off for help.
The mother, who hadn't walked in months, realized that her son's groans were growing fainter and she knew that it would be up to her to save the boy. She sensed he was dying and that she had to act immediately.
She rose to her feet and walked on shaky legs to the car. Bracing herself, she lifted. The car rose a few inches and it was just enough to let the boy scramble free. Then she collapsed.
After a thorough examination, she was found only to have suffered strained muscles. And the incredulous doctor's words were most telling: "I will always wonder," he said, "how far she might have lifted that car if she had been well and strong."
We've read similar stories about persons exhibiting almost super-human strength in times of crises. You can call it a miracle, providence, or call it a physiological response to an adrenalin surge. This mother, and others like her, found the strength she needed, when she needed it, to face the crisis at hand.
And so it is with all of us. When life knocks us down and it seems impossible to get back up, when life demands more from us than we are able to give, then more than ever, we need to find a way to do what needs to be done. It is at just these times that we come face to face with a reserve of strength we never knew we had. Ladies and gentlemen, Aretta proved this to us over and over. Best of all she did it with faith in whatever outcome the Lord had for her. She knew if she were healed either way it would be okay. She never wavered in her faith.
She would remind us all today that we are stronger than we think. We have the ability to bounce back. We have emotional, spiritual and even physical resources at our disposal. We may get knocked down, but we don't have to stay down.
When we find strength to stand up on the inside, we will be able to stand up to most anything life throws our way. Remember, even death has lost it's sting for these who have Christ in their hearts.
We are stronger than we think.
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