Open Road Press

September 2, Day 62 of TheHopeLine Tour of 2014

God’s Faithfulness in Answering Past Prayers

I have been amazed by the healing power of God. When I asked God to take away my bulimia back in 1986, I prayed in June or July of that year, and I stopped bingeing and purging six months later. In 1988, I went to my first AA meeting a few days before my birthday in November, and I “got sober” in June of 1989. God hears our cry for help and healing.

In Iowa, corn is king

Sometimes we are healed instantly, sometimes it takes time. Since I became a Christian, I have had to wait a long time for some prayers to be answered. Throughout my thirties and forties, I prayed for a husband. Tim and I did not get married until we were both 52!

When we stopped bicycling on August 17 due to severe pain in my right leg, I prayed for the pain to go away, for an accurate diagnosis, and for us to be able to finish our bike trip. I asked so many people to pray for my leg. My small group, my mom, my friends, and people at churches we visited in Vermillion, South Dakota, and Sioux City, Iowa, all said they were praying for my leg.

Loess Hills (rhymes with fuss)

Test Run

For the 15 days we stayed in Sioux City, I did not feel that my leg was getting much better. As a matter of fact, I was looking into ways to get back home, thinking that any more serious bicycling on this trip was a lost cause. I thought I would need at least a month or two off from any exercise.

Tim and I are not quitters. We kept praying and on Friday night (8/29), we thought we might be able to leave on Saturday to give the leg a try. The forecast was supposed to be gorgeous. But Tim noticed that severe weather was coming through on Sunday (8/31). So, we agreed to depart on Monday, September 1. We would ride south to Council Bluffs in two days, and then consider how to get home from there if my leg could not handle the mileage ahead. On Saturday, we went out on a 15-mile test run in Sioux City. When we came back, my leg did not feel roadworthy.

When we headed out on Monday, we were cautiously hoping I could ride without much discomfort. When we left the hotel, a bat clung to my foot (see video). Was this an omen for me to stay put? NO!

Back on the Road

In the past two days, I have felt better than I have on the whole trip. The message I kept getting from the Lord while in Sioux City was “Embrace Rest!” Those two weeks, even though the foot didn’t feel much better, were healing times. I slept, I rested, and I slowed down–probably for the first time in years. And when we hit the road yesterday, I had no pain after 40 miles. Today, after 67 miles, I am still pain free. That is a miraculous healing, in my eyes.

The passage that keeps running through my head is from Hebrews 12:1. …And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…. I guess I would replace run with bike. It seems that God wants us to finish what we start. He won’t love us any more if we finish or less if we don’t. But if He calls us to do something, He will empower us to complete it if that is His will. Lord willing, we will bicycle much farther, one pedal stroke at a time. For me, those pedal strokes are without pain, thanks to a miraculous healing in the Midwest!