My name is Steve Chamberlain, and my family and I attend Christ Family Foursquare Church in LaSalle, Ill. I’d like to share just one of the things the Lord has done—and is doing—in my life.
I have been dealing with a serious, chronic lung condition, and any cold or flu symptoms are to be treated as life-threatening. [In April 2005], I began noticing the telltale signs it was time to get medical help, which I did, taking a couple of days off work for rest and healing. Impatient and prideful, I decided I could handle it and went back to my overtime work schedule.
On a Friday evening, we attended a church function even though I was encouraged to stay home and rest. I remember leaving church, and the next thing I remember was waking up five days later at a regional trauma center. My body was starved for oxygen and had begun to shut down, almost to the point of heart failure. The doctors in the emergency room immediately placed me on a respirator and called for the life-flight helicopter, fearful I wouldn’t live long enough to complete the journey.
The doctors tried daily to remove the ventilator, but I could not breathe on my own; so they were looking at further medical intervention. They were talking about lung transplants—if I survived.
But my family was there for the long haul. Not just my immediate family, but also my church family. Whenever the doctors wanted to do something else, my faithful wife would call our pastor to get our church’s prayer line going and, well, I’m here to tell you there were no other medical procedures done. It really is a good idea to get a second opinion: His!
After a month of rest and rehabilitation, the lung specialist all of a sudden wasn’t considering the need for lung transplants. He was quite surprised and pleased at my progress. My lung-capacity tests were better than they were when I was first diagnosed years earlier. He then gave me his medical approval to return to work full time.
I’m thankful, first of all, that God is there, and approachable; that He hears and responds miraculously, with compassion and power, to the needs of His people. While I’m grateful for the efforts of all of the medical personnel involved, I am expressly thankful for the support of my immediate family and my church family. Without His working through them, I wouldn’t be here today.
And I’m thankful that I truly am blessed with the opportunity to teach His Word to others on a regular basis during our Wednesday night “Grounds for Living” small-group gatherings and with others outside of the church. In fact, I’ve seen my teaching ministry explode in influence and, hopefully, effectiveness, since my miracle, as God continues to work in me and through me and has given me a vision of what He has in store for my future ministry endeavors.
“‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know'” (Jer. 33:3, NKJV).
