Healing journey #1

When I considered how to follow the last article, I settled on the idea that this one would carry forward the theme of God’s intervention. While you might find the events described in this article as equally miraculous and unbelievable as the first one, I can promise that everything is 100% true as I remember it. I have not shared the full details of what I am about to share with many, although there are many people close to me that probably remember I went through a major health crisis. You would have had to have been close to me for a long time to know much about it though. So, with this point and without further ado, join me as I share with you the major health crisis I went through, and God miraculously bringing me through it.

I still remember very clearly where I was when the months-long ordeal started. Long story short, I had just started my first semester of seminary after graduating with my bachelor’s, and I was on spring break, just relaxing at home with my family. It was just like any other day, pretty unremarkable in all reality. It was definitely not an exciting spring break by any stretch of the imagination! That night would change all of that though. Things would be the opposite of unremarkable for the foreseeable future.  

That night, after going to bed, I started experiencing numbness and spasms throughout different parts of my body – primarily my hands and feet. Looking back on it, it was probably not the best idea to not tell my family, but I just hoped that this was an isolated incident and would never happen again. If you really know me, you would know that this decision was not out of character for me – although it seems stupid on the surface. I have a proclivity to suffer silently, and I have to be really intentional in letting people know how I really feel. Unknown to me, this was just the start of a progressively worsening condition that would come to dominate my life for the next 6 months and would eventually be impossible to hide.

The numbness and spasms would become increasingly more frequent and consistent, and I did not tell anyone until I was too scared not to. The symptoms of whatever this was progressed into things much more troublesome and serious. I would have “episodes” that were scarily similar to what you read about in stroke victims: trouble speaking, trouble concentrating and thinking, intense sensations of pressure on my head, spasms, numbness etc. Needless to say, this kind of stuff was impossible to hide, and the beginning of these symptoms began a process of seemingly never-ending doctor visits to discover the root cause.

They tested me for presumably everything possible. I was tested for diabetes. I was tested for epilepsy, which necessarily included a test that forced hyperventilation in patients, which was apparently necessary for essential brain scans (if you couldn’t tell, this was kind of traumatic). They ruled out anxiety disorders and/or panic attacks. I was even tested for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), as my symptoms were not too dissimilar to ALS. That test was particularly scary, as a diagnosis of ALS essentially correlates to a death sentence within 3-5 years. They also tested for multiple sclerosis, more commonly known as MS, a lifelong, autoimmune disease where your body attacks its central nervous system. The doctors seemed particularly convinced that this could be the root cause, but an MRI was necessary to confirm it.

I don’t remember exactly how long it took to get an MRI, but it was an excruciatingly long wait. My symptoms were getting progressively worse and worse during this time, making it hard to go anywhere or do much of anything. I was still enrolled at seminary during this time, coincidentally taking some of the hardest classes of my entire program. The struggle and the fear were constant companions, and I was always faced with a daily choice – a choice to give into the fear of the condition and accept it as my lot in life – or to believe in God’s healing power and His goodness. I did the best I could during this time. It was definitely a daily struggle to stay in faith. As with anything, some days were better than others, and some were worse. Finally, after a few months of dealing with stubborn insurance providers, I was admitted to that long sought after MRI.

Anyone who has had an MRI knows there is a mix of emotions. If you had to wait forever to get one, like in my case, there is a sense of relief at finally getting it done. However, there is also a degree of dread to deal with – a fear of the results – a fear of the unknown. I was scared at what they would find. It could’ve been a brain tumor for all I knew. They certainly didn’t rule it out. As you can imagine, the wait for the results was nerve-racking, to say the least.

I will always remember where I was when the doctor called me with the news. Simply put, the MRI revealed a spot in my brain that apparently indicated possible MS, multiple sclerosis. The results were certain enough that the doctor gave me a “pep talk,” encouraging me that the condition was manageable and treatable to a certain extent. However, anyone with the condition knows that it eventually results in a severe deterioration in quality of life, and eventually, a premature expiration date. The conversation was a difficult one to have. I got pretty emotional after hanging up.

The days and weeks after the MRI were very difficult. The doctors wanted to do one more MRI a few months later just to confirm their suspicions, as another brain image a few months later would further confirm their suspicions. In the interim period, the symptoms continued to be consistent and pervasive, impacting pretty much every aspect of my life. I still continued to believe that it was God’s will to heal me though, constantly meditating on healing scriptures and speaking life over the situation. I can honestly say my faith in God’s intervention was the only thing keeping me from complete psychological collapse, alongside my family’s constant love and support. It was because of such support – particularly my grandfather’s faith in the promises of Scripture – that I get into the part you have all been waiting for!

Sometime during the summer of 2019, me and my family took a trip to visit family in South Georgia. At this point, it was not a secret to my family what I was dealing with. It was pretty much impossible to hide. I remember “having an episode” on my grandparents’ anniversary, where I just had to lay in the back of the car for relief. That kind of stuff is hard to hide. After seeing what I was experiencing, my grandfather wanted to take me to their church on Sunday and have some people at church pray for me. I wasn’t particularly enthused at the idea of being the center of attention at church on a Sunday, especially when I really didn’t know anybody there apart from family, but I agreed to it. You can probably guess how it turned out!

That Sunday, people at the church called me down to the front, gathered around me, anointed me with oil, and prayed for my healing. To those that have never seen anything like this, there is a scripture that outlines the process that the church followed. The passage states, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up…” (James 5:14-15). The church followed this process to the letter, and all I can say is the Lord raised me up…

I can remember the days following the above experience. There was a dramatic improvement in the days that followed, and slowly but surely, the symptoms that had plagued me for so long gradually began to evaporate. I can’t even remember having another “episode.” The follow-up MRI confirmed the healing I knew I had already received. The MRI revealed nothing abnormal in the brain; the spot on my brain that resulted in a multiple sclerosis discussion had completely disappeared.

I share all of this with you to point towards the reality and power of God. There is a reason I have not told many people about this for the past 5 years – and I guess it is because I don’t want to be viewed differently by the people around me. People have a way of viewing individuals who go through such experiences differently…I realize now that my reluctance to share was not so much humility, but apprehension at the idea of sharing such an experience because of the above point. As I alluded to earlier, I care a lot about what people think, and that care has a tendency to manifest itself in pride and, consequently, anxiety. Even so, sharing this experience is partly why I wanted to start this blog. Me and God have walked such a unique journey, and it is past time I shared it with as many people as care to listen.

I will end this post the same way I did last time. If you ever doubt the existence of God, reflect upon experiences such as my own. There is a God in heaven who loves you. His name is Jesus. He is a healer, and He died to give you the ultimate healing – the healing of your soul. I don’t know why some people don’t receive the healing I experienced. If they were His children, they did receive the ultimate healing we all long for in heaven though, and that is the ultimate consolation.

Just give Him an honest chance. He will reveal Himself to those who earnestly and genuinely seek Him. I am happy to have gone through what I went through if you will just do that.

With that, I’ll stop talking until next time. One more healing testimony awaits…

Trey

P.S. If you want to read a more abbreviated version of this story, with other more miraculous stories, read Legacy of Faith: Generational Stories We Will Tell. You can buy it on Amazon!