I’m being reminded again of all the times when health issues I’ve experienced were part of God’s greater plan. It all started in 1979.

I knew that unless God intervened, I was headed for a hysterectomy at the age of 29. I wrestled mightily with this because I KNEW God could heal me whether by miraculous means or nutritional ones, both of which I strongly believed in. However, in spite of many prayers and nutritional efforts, as well as medical ones, my condition continued to get worse.

One day when Donn was at work and our children were in school, I determined to seek God with all my heart to know what He wanted me to do. One of the questions I asked Him was, “Isn’t there an easier way?”

That day I heard a message about the fact that Jesus died on the cross because it was the will of the Father–and He wasn’t given an easier way. I wept and bowed my head.

I remembered reading of a woman who had great faith for physical healing. But with her present condition, God told her He wanted her to follow her doctor’s instructions and go to the hospital, which she did.

When her friends arrived to pray for her, she said, “Don’t bother praying for me. A young mother down the hall who has five children is dying. They said she isn’t expected to live. Please pray for her. So her friends gathered around her bed and prayed for the young mother who was miraculously restored to health. Could it be that God had something for me to do at the hospital?

When Donn and I arrived at the hospital the day before my scheduled surgery, we waited a long time for me to be admitted. At last the receptionist apologized, “I’m so sorry. We were trying to find you a different room. The woman in the other bed in the room you were assigned is dying. She’s in a coma and moans and groans a lot.”

“It’s okay,” I assured her. “I’ll be fine.” Was this part of God’s plan?

After I was settled in my room and Donn had gone home, the brother and sister-in-law of the woman in the bed by the window came to visit her. They told me that Lucille was dying of cancer. Her brother said, “We can’t understand why she lingers. She’s not married and has no children, but she can’t seem to die.”  I assured them I would pray for Lucille.

After Lucille’s visitors left, I pushed back the curtain between our beds and introduced myself to my unresponsive roommate. I had heard that at some level, people are able to hear even while in a coma. I quoted the 23rd Psalm and then quietly waited until it seemed the Lord was saying I was to tell Lucille that her sins were forgiven. But I couldn’t bring myself to say that. What if I was wrong? What if she hadn’t repented of her sins?

I picked up the book I’d been reading when Lillian’s family came and opened to the page where I’d stopped. This is what I read, “Whosesoever sins you remit, they shall be remitted; and whosesoever sins you retain, they shall be retained.”  I was stunned.

Putting down my book, I said, “Lucille, by the authority of God’s Word, I tell you that your sins are forgiven. You are free to return to your Creator who loves you. I loose you from anything that would hold you in your present condition contrary to God’s will.”

Then I closed the curtain and read until I was ready to sleep. After my early morning surgery, I was taken to a different room. When I was fully awake, my roommate asked if I was Daisy Townsend. When I said I was, she told me a man had come to the room and asked her to tell me that Lillian had passed away at 7:00 that morning.

I wept tears of joy that Lillian’s suffering was over. She had needed reassurance that her sins were forgiven so she could die without fear. “Thank you, Father,” I whispered. One day in heaven, I believe I’ll be able to rejoice with Lillian at what God did. I could tell you more stories of times when my presence in the ER, doctor’s office and hospital waiting rooms also had a secondary purpose.

As I embark on this latest health journey, I find myself again in a situation where I believe strongly in God’s ability to heal by miraculous or nutritional means. I’ve been anointed and many people have been praying for my healing. I’ve also changed my diet in ways that should help my condition, but so far my condition remains unchanged. I told a friend the other day, “I’ll do whatever the doctors tell me to do unless God tells me to do something else.”

But more than that, I am once again asking God, Do you have another reason for me being in this Center, in this MRI waiting room, in this relationship with my doctor and various nurses and techs? Although I would love nothing more than for God to heal me miraculously, my first priority is to make of my body a living sacrifice to carry out any mission God may have for me on this journey.

Father, please help us to be sensitive to the leading of your Holy Spirit and to make of our bodies a living sacrifice to carry out your secondary purposes as we walk through the health journeys you have for us. Amen.