On the morning of October 12th, I was driving to work. As usual, I was praying and listening to praise and worship music. We live out in the country, so most of the roads are quiet with little traffic and woods on both sides. Getting closer to work, I felt prompted to pray for myself, as I was due to have a procedure done on my back in a few days.
The procedure involved inserting two wires, and wrapping them around two of my disks. Then the wires are heated up and left there. Afterwards I would be in a brace for 6 months. I wasn't looking forward to it at all. The whole idea scared me, and I'm not into pain! It was only after a lot of prayer that I had decided to go ahead and have the procedure done. I really felt it was what the Lord wanted me to do, so I was determined to obey.
So I began to pray, asking the Lord to divinely guide the doctor, the staff and everyone who would be involved in the procedure, and to use it to bring about a total healing of my back. No sooner had I gotten those words out of my mouth, than I saw a large bird lift up off the ground on the left side of the road.
The bird flew toward my car and landed, with wings outstretched, on the hood in front of the windshield. It was a huge and magnificent eagle! I couldn't believe it! All I could say was, "Oh Wow Lord"!
It was as if time stood still. What was in reality probably a second, seemed to last for several minutes. The Eagle was so close, I could make out the tiniest details of his feathers. This seemed to last for several minutes, although I know it couldn't have.
The eagle was obviously blocking my view of the road, but for some reason that never occurred to me. Nor did it occur to me to be scared. The instant the eagle landed on the hood, a verse from the Bible exploded into my mind. It was Isaiah 40:31. "Those who put their hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Seeing the eagle and the verse coming into my mind, both happened simultaneously. All I could do was repeat, "Wow Lord!" and cry as my heart swelled with love and thankfulness, that God would care enough about me to send me such a mind boggling sign. Then the eagle lifted up into the air and flew off to the right. I spent the rest of the ride to work praising the Lord!
By the end of the workday however, doubts were entering my mind. I couldn't possibly have seen what I saw, but I did! It couldn't have really been an eagle; it must have been some other kind of bird--one found in abundance in our area. I decided to look up birds on the Internet when I got home. After all, I'd had a very close of view of the bird, so I'd definitely be able to identify a picture of it! I figured the easiest way to do it, would be to rule out eagles right off the bat, so I looked them up and found some close up pictures of them. Much to my continued amazement, I discovered that it really had been an eagle!! Of course I thanked the Lord all over again, and asked Him to forgive me for my doubts!
The following week I went in to have the procedure done. When I was out from under the anesthesia, the doctor told me that everything had gone very well. He said it was really strange though because when he went to wrap the wires around my disks, it was like someone was inside of me guiding the wires for him! He said nothing like that had ever happened to him before!
Since the procedure, I have healed very quickly, not even needing the narcotic pain relievers after the first two weeks! The doctor continues to be amazed at my recovery, saying they have never had anyone do so well. God has indeed renewed my strength, and my hope continues to be in Him.
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Author's Postscript:
It is my prayer that the Lord will use this testimony to bring you hope and encouragement. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).