Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless.
~Psalm 10:12

After work this evening I happened to have a conversation with a man whose daughter had been in a hospital for over a month. I do not know how she came to be in this condition, but she had been in a coma, suffered a traumatic brain injury, and the neurologist she saw wrote her off. He said she'd never do anything but live in a vegetative state. The man had been crushed by the presumption of this medical professional. I can't imagine receiving a "fatal blow" like that. I wish I could have talked with him more. He was a kind man, a man most of us would like to know. He was calm, steady. Devastated and worried and uncertain what the future would hold for himself and his wife and their daughter.

But he told me that they had found an inpatient facility that worked wonders for their daughter. She is now walking. Like an old man with arthritis, but she is walking. She can do exercises in the family's pool at home now. She can talk, and listen, and understand. Her father said they feel like they have their daughter back. Wow! And all this in 7 weeks, after a doctor had said there was no hope....

As the man departed from our "chance" encounter, I asked him if he would mind if I prayed for him and his daughter. I didn't want to keep him from his 2 hour drive home, but I think he understood that this was not one of those "Oh, life sucks. I'll pray for you" hit-and-run encounters. I have a feeling this man and his daughter's tragic story will be on my mind for a while to come.

Because what I heard in this man's voice was hope. He had been given a worst-case-scenario, and sees progress. He and his daughter go for walks now. He had been told she'd never experience life again. Life may never be what it once was, but it will be experienced, not just spent. I know the man that gives this father his hope. I know the man who has begun a healing work in his daughter's body. I know the man who will give this family strength for each day. And I know the man who comforts him and his wife in the dark hours.

His name is Jesus. And he brings hope to the hopeless, healing to the broken, and is a Father to the fatherless. And He is my God.

Father God, I pray for this family in the midst of their struggles. I pray that You would continue to embrace them, wrap your loving arms around them and let them know You are there. I pray for their young daughter, that You would restore her to health, dear Lord. And while I do not know what happened to cause this sudden life changing experience, I pray that for anyone else involved Lord, that You would offer them Your love, too. I pray that Your forgiveness would be known and experienced by everyone here Lord. Thank You, oh God, that You saw fit for these two paths to cross today. I trust all of these prayers to You Lord. In Jesus' name.