Psalm 77:11-12 – I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds. (NKJV)

I will try to do just that as I retell the story so often repeated by my parents when I was growing up.

Polio is a highly contagious, disabling, and life-threatening disease that can infect a person's spinal cord, causing paralysis. At its peak in the 1940s and 1950s, polio would paralyze or kill over half a million people worldwide every year.

In July, 1946, at two years of age, I was a patient at Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto, Canada, and was not expected to survive the disease that ravaged my little body. My parents were thoroughly exhausted, as my father visited the hospital every morning and both my father and mother would visit the hospital every evening, even though they were never allowed to see me, because I was in isolation. Several agonizing months went by.

After what must have seemed like an eternity, they visited an interdenominational church in Toronto. With standing room only, it must have been overwhelming for them, to say the least.

A very kind pastor noticed the couple in obvious distress and cautiously approached them with the comment, "My name is Pastor Smith. Can I help you?" My father often said that it was almost as if he were waiting for them to show up. Right there in the lobby, he placed his arms around them and prayed for them and me, with the promise that he would also call on the huge congregation to pray later in the service.

During the service, true to his word, Pastor Oswald J. Smith, who founded the People's Church in Toronto in 1928, stopped the singing. He called for prayer for little two-year-old Stephen French, who was not expected to survive a terrible disease called polio. That was almost 80 years ago.

On Monday morning, my father visited the Sick Children's Hospital on his way to work as usual. When he arrived at the hospital entrance, he was rather shocked to see a doctor running towards him, waving his arms and shouting, "It's a miracle! It's a miracle! Come quickly and see your son." The curtain was pulled back to reveal a little boy sitting up in bed for the first time in months and obviously very much alive.

Would you wonder why, at the age of 12, I would accept the gift from the Lord Jesus Christ to be my personal Saviour from sin and accept the call to preach the gospel for the rest of my life?

Psalm 9:1 – I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. (NKJV)

What has God done in your life that should cause you to tell of all His marvellous works? We can use even small "coincidences" to give glory to God!

Prayer: Our Father, we have so much to thank You for that our lives won't be long enough to do it adequately. Thank You for all who are made clean by the blood of Your Son Jesus Christ and who are called by You to listen to the cry of the human heart and to respond. Amen!

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About the author:

Stephen French <sfrench3@telus.net>
Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
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