#21 - "We wrestle not..."

Date Sent: Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 2:07 PM

"We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world...." (Ephesians 6:12)

Last night we had a wrestling match.

A couple weeks ago I was asked to share my testimony (in 5 minutes) near the beginning of the Wednesday Night Bible Study at our church last night. It's a rather large church, with probably 3000 attending on Sunday morning. So, being as shy as I am, I should have been nervous - but I wasn't. A couple months before I was officially asked, Aaron and I knew in our spirits that it would happen, so I had plenty of time to get over being scared to talk in public.

Yesterday Alex spent the day with a friend and her children at the local pool. They offered to take him with them to church afterward, and we'd pick him up there after the service. It was a wonderful day for him - he absolutely LOVES swimming! I'm not allowed to go in a pool (or bathtub) because the catheter going into my heart would get wet, so he doesn't get much opportunity to go. Alex had a blast! But God had planned for Alex to go for another reason - - he wasn't in our car as we went to church last night.

We were probably about two miles or so from the church when suddenly the machine that pumps my continual iv medication started beeping like crazy. It was malfunctioning and wasn't pumping the life-sustaining medicine into me. The doctors warned us that if I'm disconnected for even five minutes the blood vessels in my lungs will collapse (because they're used to the medicine opening them) and I'll die. So, the clock was ticking - VERY LOUDLY! Aaron pulled over and ran around the car to grab the back-up pump and prepared iv medicine cartridge that we always must have with us. While I tried to control my breathing and keep my heart from racing (from anxiety), Aaron got everything ready to switch me to the back-up. Just about the time he got to my side of the car two other vehicles (with friends from church in them) pulled in behind us and jumped out to find out what was wrong and how they could help. (God sent friends just when we needed them to reassure us that we weren't going through this terrifying experience all alone - thank you Brad/Lisa & Eric!) I could feel my lungs closing as I waited for the new medicine to get connected and make its way up the tubing to my heart.

I was asked if I needed to go to the hospital, but once it began to kick in we knew I wasn't going to die. At that point the worst of it was over. There was absolutely no human reason why the machine would suddenly stop right then - it had to be a spiritual attack aimed at keeping me from speaking at church. I was more determined than ever to share what God's been doing in our lives, So, I pushed through, and everyone got back in their cars and we drove to church together. We pulled in next to the van that Alex was in (he was in one of the vehicles that stopped to help), and he jumped out all excited to tell us about swimming. God, in His providence kept Alex from seeing what had just happened minutes before. With the stuttering problem he's had recently, that would have pushed him over the edge. Every time he went to play with friends he'd be scared that something was happening to mommy. Thank you God, for protecting me ... and my son!

So, we went into the church and after Alex and Harrison were taken to their nurseries, the emotion of how close I was to dying yet AGAIN began to hit me. I cried through all of the singing at the beginning of the service. Then, it was my turn to talk. I was still shaking so hard from the experience that I had to sit down to read the speech I had typed. But I made it through it - very tearfully. When I was finished, something amazing happened. Someone called out and asked the pastor to pray for me right then. He asked everyone who needed healing of any kind to stand up. People popped up all over the sanctuary, and the rest of the congregation surrounded them and held them up in prayer! While people were around Aaron and me praying, all I could do was cry and thank God that His spirit was released to move through the congregation in that way. I've never been at a service at our church like that. It was amazing! Amazing things must have happened during that prayer time or Satan wouldn't have tried so hard to keep us from getting there!

By the time the service was finished my heart had calmed back down and I could almost breathe "normally" again. I was emotionally exhausted, though. God helped both of our sons to sleep in this morning so that Aaron and I could get much needed rest after the wrestling match we won last night. God continues to do amazing things in our lives. But you don't have to have a near-death experience to see God work in your life. When's the last time you shared what God's doing in your life with someone? When's the last time you let go of the reigns and let Him work?

~ Julia