No Eye Has Seen, No Ear Has Heard

1 Corinthians 2:9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.

My husband grew up a type 1 juvenile diabetic. He lived in a home with his father who had the same chronic illness. He watched his dad battle the disease with fervor and faith. His dad received healing for awhile only to face further complications. It was something that impeded my husband’s faith to watch his dad suffer and not be healed. For a long time, he turned his back on his faith and the church because how could a loving God do these things?

We watched his Dad run into the arms of the Lord in 1997. It was so hard for my husband to lose his father before the birth of his children. He was very angry and depressed for a very long time. He re-committed his life the day of his dad’s funeral but wandered aimlessly for the next year. Finally he relented and gave his life to God in 1998. His health was declining and silently he worried he would end up in the same place.

We prayed and prayed some more and kept the faith that that wouldn’t happen. Of course, God had other plans and in 2007 my husband was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Failure. Immediately he went into depression, he watched his dad suffer and die from the same diseases. Was this the end for him? We had long known that transplant might be something he would need and had researched it throughout the years. One thing his Dad never was able to get was a kidney/pancreas transplant. 

When we went for the consult at the local dialysis center, they told us that the wait for kidney/pancreas was longer. So we asked to be listed just for kidney transplant and waited for a referral. We asked God to send us to Southern California to be near our family. We waited, got the letter and had been referred to the bay area instead. We knew this was part of God’s plan, scary but we knew to not demand things to be changed.

We arrived at Stanford expecting one thing. We were told he was a excellent candidate for a kidney and pancreas transplant but why didn’t he want it. We told them we had heard the wait was longer and they laughed! The wait was actually shorter for both organs and longer for just a kidney. The wait would be one year they said versus seven for just a kidney.  We were floored, never had we imagined he could be healed from two diseases at once!

My husband was approved for the transplants and put on the list. We thought he would never go on dialysis or be truly sick. Of course, this was not God’s plan and he did get sick, very, very sick. Why God? was a frequent question and we had some “grand hissy fits before the Lord” as I like to call them. We waited until things were darkest all while God stripped us bare and changed us.

God was faithful in his loving discipline. He showed us that we had worried, let little things bother us and wasted away so many days when things were good. He also showed us that his plans are far better than ours and that he means what he says in Matthew chapter six.

Three years, three months and two days later, God healed my husband. He is no longer on dialysis and right now not a diabetic any more. We have freedom once again from things we would never had imagined having freedom from. These are diseases that don’t go away and this is just a treatment not a cure. Someday, chronic illness may return.

One year and two months later, we learned our donor Jerry had been only 18 years old for 24 days. We immediately rejoiced for our three year wait, which was three more years he lived and was loved by his family. 

Dear friends, we never know God’s purpose in sickness. We often think on our own earthly terms. What if God uses it for blessings that we cannot imagine? We learned to this lesson first hand, I am so thankful for these lessons and what God has done with them.

I challenge you to rejoice today, even in the pain. God will use it for his good.

Author the Author: Julie Timms

Julie has been married for seventeen years to the world’s most patient husband. Homeschooling mom of a tween daughter and teen son. She blogs at Just Jules a autobiographic, candid look into her life while sharing God’s glorious triumphs and miracles for their family. Proud organ donation recipient’s wife and working tirelessly to give back to the organ donation community and share their story.  She tweets @MomCycFan talking about NKOTB,Pro Cycling and her beloved Packers and sharing her fitness journey while trying to lose 100 lbs. Never a dull moment with Just Jules.



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