Taking God's Hand

by Terri Felgate

For many months now, I’ve had problems with my feet. In May of 2017, I broke my right foot and the healing process was very slow. Then in September, while I was still recovering from my broken foot, I found out that I have severe arthritis in my left foot as well. The combination of the two left me struggling to walk. Every step was painful.

My husband, David, has been such a great help to me through all of this. He brings me things from other rooms so that I don’t have to walk and be in pain. He keeps track of when I last took Ibuprofen and when I can take the next dose. I know I can always rely on him to help me but about three weeks ago David had to leave the house early for the 9:00am church service. Before he left, he told me he would not be able to come back home to take me to the second service at 11:00. I never thought it would be a problem. I figured I could easily get to the car and drive myself.

I left the house early to give myself plenty of time. I made it down one cement step and was in so much pain that I was not able to go any further. I couldn’t take the one step up and I couldn’t go take the two steps down. I was stuck! I feared I would fall so I just sat down. In hindsight was not really a good idea.

What was I going to do? There was no one around and I couldn’t move. In my head I was yelling for David to come home and help me! But I was alone in the freezing cold and started to shiver. A plane flew overhead and I waved my arms in distress but they didn’t see me. I became desperate.

I knew it was way past the time to pray so I stopped and asked God to help me, to tell me what I should do. I just wanted to be able to stand up and get to my car. I wanted to call for help and to get out of the cold.

I prayed and it didn't take long before I heard him tell me to stretch out my hand and slowly stand up. I did this with no problem. Thank You Lord! With his strength, I walked to my car and drove to church. This experience taught me that it’s always best to pray first, not as a last resort. I didn't have to fear or worry. I was not alone. All I needed to do was take God's hand.