Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: WOUND (11/26/20)
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TITLE: Watching God Heal | Previous Challenge Entry
By Janet Eriksson
11/29/20 -
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I was about to look at an infected back wound. Not only look at it, but also learn how to care for it.
The elderly patient, a family friend, had struggled with post-op care after back surgery. He incision had reopened and become infected. I was about to be trained by a home health nurse in how to administer wound care and a PICC line IV for antibiotics.
I couldn’t believe I was doing this. Medical stuff made me queasy. It was scary to think someone’s health depended on me.
As I walked into the patient’s room, the peace of the Holy Spirit settled within me. I asked God to show me the wound with His eyes. I was able to look at the wound, and I felt God’s presence.
My hands were shaking as I followed the nurse’s instructions.
“Get that strip way in there. That’s the only way to stop the infection.”
I tried to be gentle, afraid of causing my elderly friend pain.
“Get it in there,” the nurse repeated.
My friend encouraged me. “Don’t be afraid to hurt me. The infection is hurting me worse than anything you could do.”
Placing the bandage over the wound seemed to take hours. I was trying to keep the gauze sterile while tearing strips of tape.
“Are we done yet?” My friend, lying on her side, sounded exhausted.
“You’ve got to do this faster.” The nurse’s words only increased my stress and slowed the process.
Was I really going to do this twice a day for however many weeks the wound took to heal?
Again, I felt God’s peace. While there was no way I could do it, He could. I needed to give Him my hands, eyes and heart, and trust Him with my friend’s healing.
The nurse showed me simple ways to speed the process. I practiced several times, and then she was gone, leaving behind an emergency number.
That night I had a dream. The Lord showed me the wound completely healed, the infection gone, skin grown together and healthy.
“Yes, Lord. Please do that.”
The next morning, I prayed, “Lord, please guide me.”
I felt Him prompting me to talk to Him. So, I talked out loud to Jesus as I removed the dressing, cared for the wound, and put on a new bandage. My friend told me she felt His presence.
“You did great,” she said.
“Thank You, Jesus.” I told her about the dream. “I can’t wait to see your back completely healed.”
From that moment on, the fear was gone. I talked out loud to Jesus every time I worked on the IV and wound. As I took off the old dressing, I’d say, “Let’s see what Jesus has been doing.” I’d give my friend the good report: “Wow. God’s been working on your back. It looks so much better than last time.”
Days turned into weeks. We found a helper to take the evening shift. While I became more at ease with the IV and wound care, I always made sure to talk to Jesus. I invited Him to go into the wound, through the IV, and pour in His healing.
With each new day, I could see the wound closing. Her doctor gave excellent reports. The size of the dressing got smaller. I was able to use a soothing product to refresh her skin.
I will never forget the last week before she was declared healed. What had started as an open incision, long and deep enough to rest a finger in, was now two small holes -- pinpricks by the end of the week. The last day I changed her dressing, I told her, “Remember that vision God gave me in my dream? He has just allowed me to see it with my own eyes. He has healed you.”
I had often prayed with people before for physical healing. Those were prayers of faith, trusting in the Lord’s process that we often can’t see with our eyes. I felt that God had taken those months of wound care to show me, with my own eyes, what His healing looks like.
Now when I pray with people, I remember the dream, the wound healing, and the peace He gave both of us. I also remember how He helped me do something I thought I couldn’t do, and how He was always present with us.
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