“And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him…..”Rom
8:28
“Hello, is that Mrs. Rajan. I am a colleague of your husband, I just wanted to inform you that Rajan has met with an accident. Oh….nothing to worry. He’s alright, but he would like you to come to Vijaya Hospital along with your Children.” was the message over phone at 8.15pm, on the eventful day of 24th August’94.
“Oh my God! I know my Lord you are Sovereign; you never make mistakes. You know exactly, what you are doing, only give me the grace to go through all this, even if my husband is dead or alive.” These were my thoughts at that moment.
Then all that happened was history. Rajan had joined a leading multinational only in the month of June ’94. That fateful day when he left his office in the evening. his Kinetic Honda was hit by a jeep that had overtaken a speeding bus. It was a “head on-Collison”. The first miracle was, he did not lose his life or become unconscious. There was not a bruise on any part of his body, except his right leg below his knee was badly damaged. The doctors said that, it was as if it had been in a bomb blast. It was a compound fracture. To save the leg they did everything from drilling to wound irrigation and external fixatures to internal fixatures. His flesh and skin were totally removed and this had to be replaced through skin grafting and flesh grafting (soft tissue cover). He also went through bone grafting and vein grafting, if not his leg would have been amputated. He was given 18 units of blood with countless bottles of drips. The medical fee amounted close to Rs.3.5 lakhs with 10 major operations and innumerable minor surgeries.
Through it all, what did we learn? God never makes mistakes. From the very first day, we decided to read the book of Job, for we thought that it would be the appropriate book for us to know God’s plan. As in the case of Job, as recorded in Chapter 2:5 my husband’s “flesh and bone” was affected. And we knew. God was in control. When my husband was perplexed as to who and how would the huge medical bill be paid, that Job 5:18 came alive. I said to my husband if God’s hand would heal and bind up the wound, then it is His hand that’s going to provide. And according to His promise, my husband’s office paid up the entire bill (nearly 3.5 lakhs). The beauty of this was, Rajan had just taken up this new job (two months prior to the accident) and was still in his “probation”. Can you imagine for the next 3 months, the pay cheque was delivered in his hospital bed. Not enough, we got a bonus of Rs.10,000 for that year, isn’t it a miracle? After he was discharged, he used to go to the office on his crutches. (It took exactly one year to recover)
Once, during the hospitalisation, one of the major surgeries-(flesh and skin grafting) which lasted for 8 hours(10am to 6pm)- failed. The doctor (Dr.Vinoo Abraham, who unfortunately met with an accident and died after 7 months of this surgery) told me “We have to give him, one more chance” When I know this was to be taken seriously – for this would decide his hip leg – I took up fasting and prayer. (I learnt during this time what power there is in fasting and prayer). When I went on my knees the Lord began to speak from Job 33:14-30 verses (Please read the passage) I saw my husband’s story repeated and the promise I held on was v25,”his flesh will be renewed like a child’s and it restored as in the days of his youth.” I knew my God is a promise keeping God. He is not a man to lie-when He Speaks, He Speaks. The second grafting seemed a failure and the doctor was very dejected. But I could assure him of God’s promise and requested him to read the passage. My sister-in-law hearing the doctor’s word began to cry but I asked her to trust God’s word, rather than man’s word. (It matters a lot where you put your confidence). And accordingly, the next day, the doctor himself confessed, “Its a miracle” Isn’t our God wonderful?
The doctors doubted whether he would be able to walk again. They had removed 3 inches of his main bone and had done an artificial fracture to make the bone grow. When everybody doubted his ability to walk, then the Lord did the last miracle. The Lord gave me promise in Malachi 4:2″ Because you revere my name , the sun of righteousness will rise up with healing in its wings and you shall leap out like calves….”
And now, you have to see him to believe how true our God is. He not only walks, but runs, leaps, rides the Hero Honda etc… There are scars all over his body to testify of our Lord’s power (nothing is visible outside)
As a family, what did we learn? Our children (John and Daniel) who were 9 and 5 years old learnt a very valuable lesson-“The fear of God.” They knew how to consecrate themselves to see the salvation of their Papa’s health. And this crisis in our family has kept us away from all unwanted things. We need not check on them, for they know, what they ought to do and what they ought not to do. It has strengthened our relationship as husband and wife, for we learnt what it means to love and care. We learnt the power of God’s word and how to build our lives on God’s word. It has given us a testimony to share God’s awesome power and His unfailing love.
Through all the pain and discomfort, my husband never let self- pity to creep in and was able to sing, play his mouthorgan, and preach to the patients around. In fact, he conducted the Sunday morning services, with his bed being the pulpit (Earlier, he was a man who was hesitant to testify openly) If this incident in his life is going to make him a living testimony and make him testify openly to the greatness of God, then I thought that it was really worth the pain and trouble that we went through. We learnt never to grumble or question. We knew our God knows what He is doing. It was during this time that we really enjoyed the abundance of God’s provision in all areas of our life.
Our God is good. Never doubt His goodness. “It’s always the darkest before the dawn”. Only trust God and learn to surrender your will/your life into His hand. He can make something beautiful out of your life.
-Mrs. Priscilla Rajan