More from Melissa Webb

It’s been two years since the Holy Spirit prompted me to write this devotion in 2024. At that time, our family had been through a few years of tough health problems. Sawyer’s twin sister, Lucy, had also gone through several months of sickness followed by surgery and so had I. It seemed like as soon as one family member healed, the next would get sick. My husband, Josh, had a lot on his plate caring for us. Looking back, it was a scary road into the unknown over and over, and the most frightening part was what a small role God had in our lives and home at the time. We were Christians—we went to church on Sundays and said prayers at mealtimes and bedtime. But when life got tough, we were scared and stressed. Our assent to who Jesus is didn’t equal having a healthy, living relationship with him. We couldn’t even see what we were missing, much less have done anything about it on our own.

The miracle I see in our lives now is not better health, although we are healed. Our miracle is a God who loved us enough to chase down our hearts and work to turn them toward him. We wouldn’t have chosen our sicknesses and surgeries, but they sure stripped away what control we thought we had in life and showed us who was there for us. God is a very real member of our family now, and the center of our home. We talk about things God has made in nature on hiking trips, and we call each other outside to see the colors of God’s sunsets. We dance to praise songs with God in the living room, ask God to be with those involved in car accidents we pass, and talk about how God would want us to welcome the new kid at school. We also created a family prayer closet, each choosing a favorite color of paint for the walls. Sawyer and Lucy started reading the Bible on their own, and the questions they ask amaze us and honor God. Josh and I will never be able to thank God enough for the joy of knowing our kids have their own relationships with God.

If Sawyer was facing that same tonsil surgery today, the stress would still be very real. But his God would be even more real. We couldn’t see the purpose of those struggles then, but now, we thank God for them. God truly is a loving parent, and he deserves all our love, trust, and praise.