Fiona

I prayed for healing, popped the pills, picked up my sticks and walked, but that was not His plan!
 
In November 1999, I sat in the hospital bed and wrote my will, crying quietly as I thought about my children growing up without me.  The following morning I went for a four hour operation to fuse the bones in my spine and have them held in place by screws.  I was convinced I was not going to survive the surgery, but I did.
 
A year later, I was praying for God to take away my continuing pain, then I would take my daily dose of Morphine for pain relief and hobble around the house.  A friend suggested I go away for the weekend to a women's conference.  I had been a Christian for about six months, and was convinced that I had been praying faithfully every day, but that God had decided I needed to keep my pain a while longer.  I know, twisted thinking, but it made sense to me at the time.
 
Anyway, during the conference, someone was teaching about trusting God.  As I sat and listened I heard this voice in my head and heart.  "Are you listening, Fiona?  You have to trust me!"  "I do trust You, Lord, of course I do." I replied.  "But you keep taking the tablets," He said.  I sat in shock and wondered at this.  Could it really be that simple?  My thoughts scrambled.  He was right of course, as He always is.  It was almost as if I was saying to Him:  "Lord, please heal me, but just in case You don't, I'll keep taking the tablets." 
 
That night, before I went to bed, I flushed all my tablets down the toilet, and tied my walking sticks to my holdall.  Easing myself gently into bed, I settled down to sleet.  The following morning, I jumped out of bed without thinking. I was halfway down the stairs, walking straight and normal, before my head caught up with what had happened.  For the first time in twelve years, since I fell off my motorbike, I was free from pain!!  I danced into the dining room, and daily praise His name for teaching me to trust Him. 

I recently found out why in Jeremiah 1:5
             
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart;
 
Before I was even conceived, God sat me in the palm of His hand - and loved me!!