God Helped Me

Written January 29, 2016

It was in the evening. Around four o'clock or so, I had lie down on the couch to do my devotions, as I was feeling tired. My sister was in our room doing her devotions, and my father was back and forth between the house and the garage. I believe by this time it was six o'clock or later. In any case, I wanted a drink of water. My bottle was on the table in front of the couch, but I knew I shouldn't drink while not sitting up.

I had already needed my sister earlier on during our devotions, and I didn't want to bother her again. Dad was in the garage, so I couldn't ask him for help—and to be honest, I wanted to do it myself. Well, I reasoned, if I was by myself, I'd have to figure out some way to do it. I think it was then that I prayed, remembering Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

I asked the Lord how we were going to do this, and attempted to sit up the way I recalled able-bodied people doing it, by swinging my legs over the side of the couch and using my stomach muscles to lift my upper body. After a few tries, it was apparent that wasn't going to work. I admit that at this point I doubted whether the Lord was going to help me. Maybe He just wanted me to call for somebody.

Then I attempted something I had done in the past with no success. First, I endeavored to move myself as close to the back of the couch as I could. Next, I grabbed a table leg with my left hand on which to pull to roll myself over, hoping there was enough space on the couch to shift my elbow under me, push up on it and move quickly over to avoid falling off. I'm sorry if that explanation doesn't make much sense; I'm not skilled in the art of explaining, and my methods for doing things are unorthodox as it is.

The venture was no easy one. I quickly realized there wasn't enough room on the couch when I rolled for me to move my elbow without my losing my equilibrium and potentially falling off the couch. To try to give myself more stability, I put my right hand (by that I mean two fingers that decided to work enough) on the table while I made an effort to move my left elbow over. The first time was precarious and scary. As was the rest of me, my two right fingers were sweaty and therefore somewhat slippery on the table, which really put me in danger of hurting myself—one wrong move and...

 I wished that Friday was a service dog and could lend me some assistance. I even thought of calling him over, but I didn't know if he would make a bad situation worse, so I remained silent and recovered myself. I rested for a minute and then attempted the process with all the speed I could muster. Perhaps that would aid me. Sure enough, it did, and while it was still risky and frightening, I managed to move at the right time.

I was now on my stomach. From there, I moved so that my feet were off the couch, and used my left arm to push myself up into a sitting position. I found myself on something hard. I was puzzled until I remembered the cold pack my sister had wrapped in a towel and placed on my leg. I had moved it off before I started, but then forgotten about it in my struggle—that's what I was sitting on!  I tried to move it, but when I realized I couldn't without falling, I chose to think that maybe it was there to give me more stability sitting up.

I grabbed my bottle of water and emptied it shortly; but the fact that I obtained what I wanted isn't the greatest thing out of this whole incident. It is the fact that God helped me, and in more than one way. Not only did He bless me with wisdom and strength to accomplish the goal, but He also blessed me yet again with a will to do. This is especially significant for me because for many years, I had a nearly unchangeable "I can't!" attitude, but He is changing my outlook through His grace—and this experience testifies to that. It also testifies to the truth of the Apostle Paul's words in Philippians 2:13:"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."

Blessings,

Jean