God showed His mercy and His grace to me on Saturday night. I was riding home with my husband from a shopping trip, and my lower back started feeling numb. I’ve had various neurological symptoms throughout the last 15 years, so I am accustomed to having to overlook a lot, but lower back numbness is unnerving.
In 2000, the year before I was saved, I went numb from the waist down. It was late into the evening, and I started to notice losing feeling in my waist and my hips. It spread through my legs and into my feet. I could still walk, but I had to watch my feet since I couldn’t feel my legs.
It was a very difficult time for me, because I was being evaluated for MS (I don’t have it), and I had just had a brain MRI done earlier that week. So going numb from the waist down was very upsetting, and they couldn’t do anything for me at the hospital, because they had no explanation for why it was happening. They couldn’t access the MRI I had done because it wasn’t at a facility affiliated with that hospital. So I left without any answers, but I was just glad to be going home, and not being admitted.
A few hours after I got back home, I started to feel my lower back again, and it was very painful for several hours after that. I slowly regained feeling in my lower body, and I was beyond relieved! I was still scared and concerned that it would happen again. This was one part of the circumstances that led to my turn to God. I was having a number of health issues, and some (like the aforementioned) were truly terrifying. I felt betrayed by my own body, and I hated feeling weak.
Ultimately, I became a saved Christian in the midst of physical and emotional turmoil. I just couldn’t handle it alone anymore. My family was helpful to me, but I needed the kind of help that only God can give. Yesterday, I revisited the symptoms that freaked me out so much 12 years ago, and the outcome was completely different.
When I started feeling the numbness in my lower back last night, I felt fear for a very short period of time. Then I remembered that God wants to show me mercy, and He wants to give me His grace. God’s grace is a free gift of favor that He gives to us. I prayed immediately, asking God to remove this attack on my body. I told God I trusted Him to help me, and I focused my mind on other things. It wasn’t that hard to do because I knew that God wanted to bless me and help me. Ten minutes later, the numbness was gone, and I was praising God for helping me and healing me! Not only did He answer my prayer, but He also gave me even more of His grace by removing my anxiety.
I would encourage you to bring your troubles and your fears to Him. He is your ever present source of help, comfort and guidance. He’s available 24/7, and you will be rewarded for putting your trust in Him and believing that He will take care of you.