'Don't Give Up'
Author: Debra Pierce (Massachusetts, US)
King Hezekiah was ‘at the point of death’ because of his illness. But he recovered with God’s help. Hezekiah’s story reminds me of an illness from which God helped me to recover.
Mine was a mental illness. Several years ago loneliness, financial struggles and work problems felt like relentless adversaries, and I began having suicidal thoughts. I wanted relief from my emotional pain and came to believe that suicide would be the way to attain it.
As I headed toward the garage where I parked my car one night, I was thinking about the note I had scribbled on yellow-lined paper and various methods of carbon monoxide poisoning. When I reached my car, I noticed a laminated prayer card on the pavement beside the driver’s door. It was titled, ‘Don’t Give Up’.
I could taste my salty tears as I read it. Despite the fact that I had not involved God in any aspect of my life, I felt him reaching out to me through that prayer card. The following morning, I contacted a doctor. With counselling and medication I recovered from my illness, and a few months later a pastor led me to Jesus. I keep that prayer card in my kitchen as a reminder that God values our lives and ‘saves those who are crushed in spirit’ (Psalm 34:18, NIV).
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we praise you for your divine mercy when illness steals our health and hope. Amen
