“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.” Isaiah 41:10 NIV

A Routine Surgery

Last Spring, I underwent a serious but fairly routine surgery for a uterine tumor. As I laid in the recovery room, all my vital signs were stable. My husband visited and kissed me goodbye to go home and check on our children. I was coming out of anesthesia well and everything seemed to have gone good. I was so relieved and was feeling at peace over the whole surgery.

Earlier, I had prayed for God’s healing and protection, wisdom and skill for the doctors, and I remember thinking to myself, “It’s all over, now I can begin to recover and heal.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, I closed my eyes.

I heard one of the nurses come in to take my blood pressure and other vital signs and then heard her quickly rush out of the room. Within the next few minutes, my surgeon and several other nurses surrounded me.

The questions came:

“Do you feel ok?”

“Do you understand what we are saying?”

“Does anything hurt?”

I was completely coherent and told them I felt fine. I could see other doctors rushing in; a cardiologist, an internal medicine doctor, another surgeon and numerous other nurses and hospital staff. I heard one of them say, “Her blood pressure has dropped to 50/40 and we cannot find any reason for it, but we need to stabilize her quickly.”

I didn’t realize the seriousness of the situation until I saw a doctor enter the room with the “crash cart” and I heard a nurse whisper, “The chief hospital physician is here.”

My heart began to beat harder in my chest and fear set in. Anxiety and a sense of dread overtook me. I remember thinking, “Oh my goodness, I am dying.”

Do Not Fear I Am With You

Closing my eyes, I prayed very simply, ”Jesus, I trust you. Give me courage and peace, take away my fear. I trust you with my life.”

You see friends, as I heard the panic around me, I quickly realized the direness of the situation. So many medical tests were run, CT Scans and other imaging analyzed, and I was beginning to grow tired. I was told I was very pale, and my breathing labored. It would have been easy to try and rely on my own courage and strength, especially in this situation. But I knew that this was beyond my own control. Beyond my own courage. My life was in God’s hands. And I released my fear to Him.

So, I did the only thing I knew how to do… pray.

God Hears Our Prayers and is with Us

Scripture tells us repeatedly that God hears our prayers and that He is always with us. He numbers our days and is in complete control of our lives. I could feel His presence in my hospital room, and I knew at that moment that I was going to be ok.

With my prayers came complete peace. Even as I was rushed into emergency surgery for internal bleeding, I knew that God was in control. As I prayed for courage and strength, God showed up in great ways. He took my fear and anxious thoughts and replaced them with His peace. A peace that transcends all understanding. One that I can’t even put into words.

This peace remained as I was transferred into ICU where I stayed for several days recovering. This peace was my courage as I underwent 3 days of blood and platelet transfusions. And it remained as I received a cancer diagnosis shortly thereafter.

We see stories in the Bible in which God gave great courage to those who placed their trust in Him. Daniel 6 tells the story of Daniel refusing to stop honoring God in prayer and how he was thrown into the den of lions to be eaten alive. But God gave Daniel courage and strength, staying by his side, and in the end, we saw Daniel’s life spared.

When we release our fear to God, He, in turn, gives us courage and peace for every situation. He turns the impossible into possible and the ordinary into extraordinary. God wants to show up in big ways in our lives. As we pray in faith for courage and strength, we can then watch expectantly for Him to do miraculous things.

Have you released your fears to God? Today is a perfect day to start living in His courage and peace!

This devotion originally appeared on Devotable written by Pamela Keener

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