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Last week, my son, Jared was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis(JIA). It is a chronic disease that has no cure medically. This auto immune disease causes swelling of the joints, according to the doctor, only a life time of drugs can control this condition. It was truly heart breaking to hear such bad news.
Two months ago, Jared developed a swelling in his right foot that wouldn't go away. Thinking that it was one of his sports injury again, I brought him to a polyclinic to get a referral letter to see a specialist in a hospital so that we can save costs on seeing expensive private doctors at specialised clinics. And God was in control from the beginning, he led us to KKH woman and child hospital to see an Orthopaedic as a subsidised patient. After one month of physiotherapy, his foot did not improve, instead, his left knee began to swell up as well.
Two weeks later, we had to admit him to the emergency clinic because he woke up with intense pain in his knee. He was hospitalised for three days and went through so many needle injections and blood tests. His knee was wrapped in a big bandage that look amusingly like a rugby ball. And the big white ball jolted me because it suddenly reminded me of a vision that I saw some weeks ago during a prayer meeting. In the vision I saw a big white ball, and the word that God gave me was that somebody has a painful swelling on one part of his/her body and God is going to heal him/her. I praise God for this promise and assurance. My faith rises with hope for Jared.
Finally after an MRI and X-ray scan, Dr Thas, the KKH Rheumatoid Arthiritis doctor came by to announce that Jared has JIA (Juvenile Idiopathic Arthiritis). Idiopathic means unknown in medical terms but God knows exactly what was going on and he is in control!
As I was reading Nehemiah last week, it spoke to me about Jared's condition. Just as God used Nehemiah to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and restore the faith of the Israelites, God will also rebuild Jared's health and restore his faith. And all these will take time and he will use many people along the way to help us, just like how he uses so many people to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.
Yesterday while I was sitting outside the clinic, I started reading 1 Peter 1:3-9,
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Verse 4 spoke to me a lot... about the inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. Even though we have troubles and difficulties in our life here on earth but we can put our hope in God as he has prepared an inheritance for us in heaven. We may have spent our time building our health, career, kids, friendships, marriages and wealth...but all these are not forever, they will eventually perish, fade away or spoil. Our living hope is in Christ, our lives on this earth are only temporal, trials and difficulties strengthen our faith and character.
My prayer is that Jared will become stronger in his faith. And through this journey with God, he will draw nearer to Jesus and experience his amazing grace!
