Faith Stumble - Trusting God Through Impossible Circumstances

Today's post is by guest blogger, Liz Petruzzi. I met Liz at the Asheville Christian Writer's Conference a few years ago. I know you will enjoy as she shares from her heart.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

God works everything out for good.

Sometimes routine things turn into a journey.

A marathon.

A desert.

A marathon through the desert.

The unexpected happens in a moment.

In 2012, my son, Joey, who has special needs including Autism, had outpatient, arthroscopic knee surgery.

An unimpressive surgery.

A surgery that happens every day.

A surgery that took almost a year to arrange.

Eight months earlier, Joey stepped off the bus during a field trip and kablooied his knee – it’s a technical term.

He couldn’t climb the steps and get back on the bus so I got the call, “Mrs. Petruzzi, Joey did something to his knee….he can’t get back on the bus…can you come and get him?”

We rested it, we iced it, we prayed.

He never complained but we could tell he was in pain.

A few days later, I took him to the first orthopedic surgeon. They did x-rays…it wasn’t good and it wasn’t simple.

It turns out Joey had a congenital bone thing which caused his hip to rotate, twist his femur and mess up the alignment of his knee.

When he stepped off the bus….kablooie.

This was the beginning of an eight month journey that by month six caused me to begin anti-anxiety medication, something I’d never done.

There were doctors who refused to see him, “I’m sorry, we don’t treat patients like that.”

I’d never experienced this before – we are a middle class family with good insurance. More than one very qualified physician refused to see us.

“What do we do now?” became a common question coupled by a pit in my stomach and sleepless nights.

There were surgeons whose solution was a 20 plus hour procedure involving two surgical teams, cutting his femur, metal rods and a 21 month recovery.

By the time we saw surgeon number seven, I was beyond frustrated. Joey couldn’t sleep, he could barely walk and by the end of the day, he was pale and shaking with pain.

Surgeon seven was referred to us by a well known doctor who wasn’t interested in treating Joey.

Dr. Frank, surgeon seven, was different - he didn’t look past us to images on a screen.

He looked into our eyes and chose to care about a young man with special needs – one who is often dismissed as unimportant in the medical world.

I can trust God.

Dr. Frank not only took on Joey’s case, he came up with a solution to address his knee through an arthroscopic procedure – the least invasive measure. It wouldn’t repair everything but it would fix the issues causing pain and restore his mobility.

Eight months after his injury, Joey had surgery. I’m happy to say it was a success and six years later, he is pain free with good mobility.

Here’s what Joey’s knee taught me:

I can trust God when there seems to be no answer.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

I didn’t know what to do – we experienced months of blind alleys and dead ends.

All the steps I thought were mis-steps lead to our destination – the right surgeon and a procedure that wasn’t 20 hours of surgery.

Nowhere in the Bible does God command anyone to figure it out – He only asks I walk where He leads.

He gives me what I need for today.

And when they measured it (manna) by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed. Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” However, some of them paid not attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. Exodus 16:18-20

When I try to look into the future, I become anxious and afraid as I search for a solution.

Just like the Israelites, God gives me manna – exactly what I need for today.

When I plan and project, I go places He isn’t.

I stuff my pockets, load up to get farther along while maggots of fear devour it.

When I choose to trust, He gives me the gift of daily bread – His Presence and provision.

He works all things for good.

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. Proverbs 16:9

Our knee journey included several amazing doctors - the orthopedic surgeon for the Miami Dolphins and another famous surgeon who appeared on several television shows including 20/20 for innovations in orthopedics.

It was extremely heartbreaking and frustrating when our best efforts didn’t result in the outcome we hoped for.

God had a plan – a perfect plan.

God gives me what  I need for today.

A plan we didn’t see for eight long months.

When we look back, we see how He ordered our steps.

The closed doors directed us to the right door.

Everything I thought was a wrong turn, lead to an outcome better than anything I hoped for.

He makes a way where there seems to be no way.

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19

I never imagined how long the journey would be - it seemed like just a knee injury, something relatively simple.

I experienced rejection, fear, discouragement, hopelessness.

I couldn’t understand why there appeared to be no solution and at times I wondered if Joey wouldn’t have to become the bionic man.

God never left us - He made a way where there seemed to be no way.

Trusting God through Impossible Circumstances (click to tweet)

Join the conversation and share your thoughts.

Liz Petruzzi is a beach, dog and coffee lover who believes God’s love is for everyone – but doesn’t have all the answers. “Throughout the Bible, we see confused people trusting God. They endured hardships, death, loss. Their suffering and circumstances were part of a bigger story they didn’t always understand.”

Liz writes about life and faith on her blog, lizpetruzzi.com and loves to connect with people who wrestle with both. You can read more about Joey in the “About Me” section of Liz’s website.