Micah’s Story (A little lengthy) Sitting about half way back in the church auditorium, I listened once again as my daughter shared her testimony about her son Micah. Now nineteen years old, Micah is a miracle in the making. But life for both he and his family had not started out that way. Almost from the very beginning there was a sense that something was different. Little did we realize what God was about to do in our lives through this young man. But sitting there that day, I realized that God was once again using the events in Micah’s life to influence others. As I continued to listen to my daughter, three thoughts came to my mind which I jotted down immediately. Every tool a weapon, every burden a blessing and every trial a victory, were the thoughts. As a Minister of the Gospel, I had learned long ago to record thoughts such as this because they usually led to some greater message later on. It would often be some string of thoughts that would ramble around in my head until the true meaning of what God wanted to show me was revealed. This proved to be no exception. While I am not a writer, I felt that the chain of events and the circumstances that had brought these things to pass were something that may help others and if nothing more than to settle my mind, needed to be recorded. Every Tool A Weapon Perhaps everyone reading this has experienced a time in life when a particular tool was needed but not available. Who has not used a butter knife as a screwdriver or pry tool? What about the edge of a coin as a screwdriver or some heavy object as a hammer? The list could go on and on. The point is, even in the manner of our thinking, we are able to take something that we have and use it as something we need. Now since we are made in the image of God, it would not be a difficult thing to acknowledge that He does the same thing with us, His children. I hesitate to imagine what history would have been like for us as Christians if God had not used men like Moses, who stuttered, Jonah , who rebelled and Peter who denied him. What I see is a God that saw beyond what these, and many more, saw as possibilities. God knew the potential that each man held within themselves. He further saw a perfect fit for their life and their ways in conjunction with His Divine plan. David may not have appeared as a king but God would use him. No one imagined a ruddy lad defeating the Philistine giant nor being anointed as king while he was fresh from the shepherd’s field, yet in all these events God made something out of who he had. Were these men the only ones that God could use? Were there not others? It would be similar to asking if the reason we used a butter knife for a screwdriver was because we did not own a real screwdriver. No, in fact most of us own several. The answer would probably be the same as what God would reply, it was available. It was handy at the time. In Nehemiah, the command was given to build the wall with their tools in one hand and their weapon in the other. I believe that is both literal and symbolic of the way we are to live our lives. Our Bibles are sharper than any two edged sword and as tools for the Lord, we are at his disposal to be used of Him. Micah would be no exception. Although Micah looked the normal healthy little boy, Kelley, his mother, had noticed early on that Micah was withdrawn and seemed to never look at you in the eye. He seemed happiest when he was left alone to amuse himself. Several months, even years would pass before we would learn that Micah was autistic. What Micah would endure for the next several years would be a learning experience for our whole family. After all, we were all Christians and serve a God who is able. We just needed to keep the faith and continue praying. It would be less than honest to tell you that there were not times when we would question God about what he was doing. Kelley probably suffered the most through this ordeal because as his mother, she was the closest to the daily situation. Her mother and I felt a double jeopardy. Our grandson was different and our daughter was suffering. What we understood most was that God was capable of changing our situation around. No one at that time could see any good out of what God was allowing. I had experienced this tragedy to triumph scenario many times in my life but still was caught off guard. God would once again use another of his tools as a weapon. God can use every tool as a weapon. Looking back on this event in our lives, I can see very clearly what God was doing and even why He was doing it. But I had forgotten that lesson when the price of a sick grandchild and a grieving daughter were at risk. With all Micah was to endure, how could we know what was to come. We were asking God for what we saw as the best way out, a cure for Micah! Most of us would like to think that we learn from our mistakes and never repeat them. The truth is, we continually make the same mistakes again and again through life. The mistakes usually have different faces or names or circumstances but they have one thing in common, we should have known better. It is often the trials in life that become the leverage tool for prying us out of our comfort zone. They cause us to pray, to respond and to be more sensitive to situations. Without problems, we would not be prepared for greater trials. Just as a runner builds stamina from physical exercise, so also the spiritual man by the trials of life. Every Burden a Blessing With all Micah was to face in life we still had much to be thankful for. He seemed to be in no pain and when left to himself, seemed reasonably happy. Jamie and Kelley knew that their son could not be just “left alone” however. They wanted to interact with him and see him grow into a normal, healthy little boy. Before Micah was finally diagnosed as autistic, many futile attempts were made to pinpoint his differences. While some doctors told Kelley that she just needed to spend more time with him, others continued to look for a medical cause. Micah became very frustrated and for a time would bang his head against the wall so hard we were fearful he might do permanent damage. He would often hit himself or others in an effort to communicate his emotions. Since we had no previous experience to what Micah was going through we felt the same desperation. It was a matter of simply not knowing what we were dealing with. It is hard to look back now and understand why we had trusted God so little. Perhaps it was because of the thought that we had not done all we could or even worse, if God was waiting to heal Micah to our expectations because of what we were doing. What was He waiting on? How could it be a part of His will for a child to suffer? In our minds, we could all tell God a few things that we think He should know. The truth finally occurred to me, nothing has ever occurred to God. He knew it all from the beginning. As I look back over the years, I can only see the frustration that overwhelmed us. God has brought my family through so much that it would seem impossible to forget His faithfulness. The problem was, we wanted an answer then, not later. We were anxious to share the good news that God had healed Micah because of prayer, but no healing came, at least not for Micah. Too often we find ourselves wanting to live on past miracles, wondrous works or even someone else’s story. While the aftermath of these great events boost us with pride and comfort of knowing a God that answers our prayers, the time spent waiting in uncertainty seems eternal. Just for a moment try to look at your burden from this aspect. “God loves me so much, He has allowed these events in my life for a reason.” I know, that is hard too do when you are in the thick of it. But look at it this way, you have become cemented in your regular routine and this situation was meant to move you. It was meant to make you consider alternatives, stir your emotions or change your course. What we see as tragic now, may be the redeeming event later on. Let me explain. One of my cousins, whom was lost at the time, was visited by the local pastor with an invitation to attend church. After the pastor shared the plan of salvation with him my cousin made this statement; “I am too proud too ask Jesus to save me in front of all those people.” The pastor then ask him if it would be okay for he and the church to pray that he would be humbled. The response seemed almost in disbelief as he said, “Sure have them pray all you want.” A few months passed before there was a call in the night. His son, who was away at college, did not come back to the dorm and his roommate was wondering where he was. Several hours passed before the son was found in the middle of a pasture where he had been thrown from a horse. By the time the father arrived at the hospital the news was grim. Brain surgery would be needed and even then there was going to be some if not total paralysis. The father now waited anxiously to hear from the doctors. A nurse entered the waiting room with a plastic bag full of the son’s hair. She asked if the family wanted it or if they should keep it. An older brother spoke up and asked what good the hair was, he could grow more. The father realized what the concern was and told her to just hold on to it. My cousin then explained to the older brother that the hair would be for the funeral, they did not expect him to live. It became imperative now for the father to get alone with God. He did not care about pride now, it was gone. All he knew was he needed Jesus, both to save him and to heal his son. Years have since passed and my cousin has faithfully testified of God’s love and mercy. The son walked out of the hospital on his own although there are some lingering reminders of his accident. It is so sad that it took so much to reach a hardened heart for Christ but the prayer was answered. He is now a humble man. Life is not a practice run, it is the real thing. In the bible we see a whale ride brought Jonah to where God wanted him. Joseph did not cherish being sold by his brothers for a slave but the burden he endured brought him to where God wanted him as a mighty man in Egypt. It was a fishing trip that lasted all night within a fish and then came the morning! What seems like a burden becomes a blessing. The problem is that we cannot identify the blessing while we remain under the burden. A man in our church, I’ll call Hank, would constantly bring up a situation about a business deal that he had missed several years ago due to his wife not wanting to sell. Over a several year period, Hank would bring up the topic every time he could. It was always about how he hated the fact that she would not agree with him to sell. It was her fault and he would be rich today if not for her and so on. After one such rant I stopped him and asked him several questions. First , I asked, If you had sold and gotten the money, where would you be today? He responded, I would be in New Jersey living like a king. Secondly I asked if he would have ever considered moving to Florida if that had occurred? His answer was, No! Thirdly I asked this. If you had never moved to Florida and met the man that eventually led you to Jesus Christ, do you think you would have ever gotten saved? He dropped his head. “No, I would have never agreed to even listen to the plan of salvation if I had stayed in Jersey!” Well then I replied, which is better? Without looking up he said, I never thought about it like that. It is my belief that there are doors in life that we knock at and the doors open and we go through. There are others that we knock at and they are not opened. We then proceed to force our way through even though we know what we are doing is wrong. And then there are some doors we never knock at and the Lord kicks it open and throws us through by the cuff of the neck for our own good. Every Trial a Victory Most people have some competitive spirit in them. In fact, we enjoy winning . It doesn’t really matter what it is, we just like to finish out front. Whether it be in sports or a board game or just working a crossword puzzle, there is a thrill to the accomplishment. The one exception to that is this, the trials of life. In order for us to win the victory in life, we must face the trial. It is not that we don’t want to win, it is that we don’t want to participate in the trial. We are children of the King of Glory and we don’t want to participate! It is not that we don’t want the victory, we just don’t want the trial. Can you imagine watching a race from the side line and then going down to get a metal for the victory? Yet that is exactly what we are doing when we avoid the trial, we did not run in the race, we just want the victory. What we were looking for in Micah was a victory, we just did not know what the trial would involve. What this particular trial involved, as we later learned, was a change of our perspective on what healing was. The healing had to occur more in the way that we perceived the trial than the removal of the trial. In other words, God did not “heal” Micah, He healed us. We often have to go back to our roots to remember that God does all things well. Micah was not sick, he was just different. His trial would become the victory. As a young boy, Micah did not talk. He was 11 years old before he ever told his Mom, “I love you”. We soon began to see other improvements in Micah’s communication skills. Most of what he said was repetitive of what we had said to him but even that was an improvement. By now we had accepted that Micah was the way God wanted him although we did not yet fully understand why. Micah became very articulate with his hands modeling and molding items out of modeling clay. He developed computer skills and learned to read and write. He often sat with his mom as she played on the piano and even learned to sing his favorite song. We knew Micah understood a lot of things but because of his lack of communication we were not sure just how much. Through all his formative years, he had been in church with his parents as his dad preached and his mom sang. About the age of 13 , Kelley was singing at a church and in closing, asked Micah to join her and sing his favorite song. He sang, “Jesus wuvs me, dis I know, for the Bible tells me so, little ones to him belong, they are weak but he is strong. Yes, Jesus wuvs me, yes, Jesus wuvs me, ….” There was not a dry eye in the church. What we thought was a disability for Micah, God has used as a powerful tool in His hands. Micah has a “sixth sense” , about people that are hurting and will often walk up to complete strangers and just give them a hug. Sometimes the people are so stressed that they just break down and cry but Micah has a sense of their hurt. Our Micah was never meant as a trial, he came to us as an unusual blessing. A blessing that God has used in all of our lives and continues to do so. What I have learned about victories is that there will never be a victory until there is a challenge. Never a chance to win until we compete. May we each be bold enough to ask God for a victory even though we realize there can be no victory until there is a challenge.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 03:39:23 +0000
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