For June 20th:

“…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 not faint.” Isaiah 40:31

I had scheduled an appointment with my Gynecologist for what I thought was a urinary tract infection. After the examination, my physician scheduled me for an ultrasound just to make sure there wasn’t something more going on. I had the ultrasound, took the medication for the infection and was going about my business as usual after a couple of days. Then I got the call from my gynecologist’s nurse, “There was something suspicious on the ultrasound that the doctor needs to talk to you about…”

            That’s when I also got the call from the Great Physician, “…but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;…” I tried diligently during that whole medical ordeal to wait for the Lord. And He did renew my strength, over and over again. I had more ultrasounds, nuclear medicine tests, scans. Some of those tests were not comfortable and some pretty scary.

            I had asked a lot of people to pray for me during that scary time. My immediate family, extended family, church family, bible study friends. They all came along beside me and lifted me in prayer. It was so comforting. I could feel the peace from their prayers embracing me. They were all there waiting (praying) with me.

            The results of all those appointments, poking and prodding lead to the prognosis of a benign hemangioma. They said I was probably born with it and that leaving it alone was the best treatment.  An ultrasound once a year for three years with no change and I was in the clear. Waiting had become a strength over the past several weeks, so needless to say, I was VERY HAPPY with those results.

            What I discovered through that experience was that we should always be waiting for the Lord. In sickness and in health. It is in the waiting (praying) that we are strengthened for the times those scary calls come. I also discovered that the Lord strengthens us in community waiting. When we open up and let others share in our struggles, the Lord uses that community of waiting to strengthen. It strengthened relationships for me, it strengthened my own prayer life, and it strengthened family bonds.  “…they shall mount up with wings like eagles;…”. When I was being lifted in prayer by all those saints, they were giving me eagle’s wings to fly into His peace.

Jane Newman