In the summer of
2002, my father became paralyzed in a tragic surfing accident. My brother and I were 11 years old at the
time. I remember not knowing what to think.
I was angry at God. I was confused and terrified. As I continued on through the aftermath of
the accident, I learned how to strategically compartmentalize these emotions,
so I no longer had to wrestle with them day in and day out. It numbed the pain.
Thankfully, the story doesn’t end
there. Throughout the years God has
continually been speaking His truth to me through the tragedy of the
accident. Recently, a friend whom many
of you know, one of the protégés, Katie Juranek was healed from arthritis pain
that she had experienced for the past 5 years. Naturally, in the course of
witnessing the healing power of the Holy Spirit I began to question God in
terms of my father’s accident. Why Katie, and not my father?
As I was worshiping one night with
the High School students at Summit, God’s Spirit moved me to tears and revealed
His truth to me. Do you not realize my
hand at work? I called my father and
mother that night to share what God had revealed to me.
My father answered the phone. After pushing through
many tears, I managed to share what was on my heart:
Dad, I know
this accident has not been the most fun for you. But I tell you this; God has used your
accident to transform the lives of Jon and I.
In witnessing you continue to seek the Lord, we couldn’t help but do the
same. And because of this, people are being healed. Not a healing in the physical, but a deeper
healing, people are being healed as they come to know the Truth that sets them
free. People are coming to know the Joy that
only comes in the name of Jesus. How
much greater is this testimony, that because you have allowed God to work
through the course of this tragedy, people are coming to know Jesus Christ as
their Lord and Savior. People are set free. People have been healed.
On the other line, my father and mother were filled
with joy. In response, my father said,
son, if I could go back to the day of my accident, I wouldn’t change a
thing. I would do it all over again. To
now have seen what God has done through this tragedy, speaks of much greater
things than to be able to get up out of this wheelchair and walk.
