A Prayer Not Forgotten

“Beth, you’re going blind.”

My optometrist’s words sank like a stone in my seventeen-year-old heart. He must have caught my utter dismay because he quickly went on. “Don’t worry. We may be able to stop, even reverse your condition a little, with something new.”

The “something new” he referred to were contact lenses. My heart sank further. How could a high school senior afford anything that cost the equivalent of a college semester’s tuition? My parents couldn’t afford them either.

“I know that,” the doctor said, “but, Beth, I can’t just let this happen. I will pay for the lenses. When you graduate and get a job, you can pay me back a little each month.”

I left the doctor’s office, overwhelmed by his kindness and shaken by the news. I squeezed back my tears and prayed. Lord, you can do anything. Please heal my eyes so that I can see without glasses!

The contact lenses arrived and did stop the loss of my sight. I was so thrilled, I forget all about my prayer, but God did not.

Thirty-seven years later, I raced into the waiting room to share the good news with my husband. “I can see! I can see!”

Back in the examining room, Jim and I learned that the new Lasik surgery had taken the vision in my right eye from 20-400 (legally blind) to 20-25.  A year later, surgery on my left eye had similar results.

As we left the doctor’s office, we marveled at all God had brought together to deliver my miracle. Someone discovered the laser beam. Another invented a machine to harness it for eye surgery. Doctors had to be trained, and I was sure it was no coincidence that my eye doctor was one of eight in the United States currently performing the new surgery.

How precious our prayers are in God’s sight. He responds to them all. To some he quickly says, “Yes!” To others, and for good reason, he must say, “No.” To still others, he says, “Wait.” However, when that right time arrives–it might be years later–he delivers the perfect answer.

Focus: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers” Philippians 4:6 (The Living Bible).

How different our world would be if, instead of worrying, we brought our needs to God and trusted him to deliver the right answer at the right time.

How about You? Do you agree? Why or why not?

(This blog post adapted from a March 2000 piece published by Together in Faith in my ten-year column, Love With Shoes On.)