I often have a hard time with this topic, God, healing, faith, God’s will.

When my husband was first injured, I met this wife whose husband was a long time quad. She was whacky and made me so nervous. I tried to avoid her as much as possible. When I first encountered her she told me about the bowel program or as she put it “have they told you how he’s gonna poop? I thought she was crazy. Unfortunately I found out that part of her story was true.

She also told me that day after day she sat at her kitchen table and prayed and prayed for her husband to be healed. She was certain that some day she was going to get the lightening bolt miracle that she had been praying for all these years.

She even told me she prayed herself out of a hear attack. That she was having a heart attack and couldn’t leave home because she was caring for her husband. Instead of going to the hospital, she sat at her kitchen table and prayed to be healed from her heart attack which she said happened.

I heard this day after day, week after week as we both sat at the hospital with our paralyzed husbands. Finally I could no longer be quiet.

I told her that maybe she was going to miss her miracle because she was too busy praying to notice it. Maybe the miracle she was getting wasn’t the one she was expecting or praying for.

Faith, hope, love, miracles and healing come in all types of packages. Sometimes we never know how those packages arrive and sometimes they weren’t what we were expecting or wanting. And sometimes we trip right over them.

My husband hasn’t been physically healed through faith, God, prayer or anything else, and I don’t believe that will ever happen at this stage for him But other things have happened.

For me, I received a gift form paralysis that I had never anticipated. SCI has brought me in contact with some truly remarkable and amazing people that I have grown to love and admire; people that I am sure I never would have encountered but for my husband’s paralysis.

A gift from God? Sometimes God’s greatest gift is an unanswered prayer.

I too have a hard time with this topic, God, healing, faith, God’s will.

I too wonder if I have missed the miracle , I too feel I might be too busy to notice it , becasue what I am getting is not what I was expecting or prayed  for.

There is a verse in the Bible which has always impacted me and made me wondered. It has  inspired me in dealing with the struggles of life. It goes something like this... "I have a plan and a purpose for your life; it is one of hope and not despair."

Perhaps the purpose He talks about  is not what we would have wanted or expected.

I do not really know but,  I need to believe humanity and God co-exist, and  there is a purpose for each and everyone  one of us.  I need to believe we are not alone but, instead part of a bigger canvas. 

For me, paralysis has made me more aware of human joy and suffering, it has made me  aware of  how extremately important  today is.  I have learned to enjoy today,  learned to feel others pain as  my own..

Paralysis has shown me that God and faith is not anything I thought it would be. Instead,  it  is a mystery we can miss if we are too busy expecting life is to be what we desire. Perhaps, the answer is simple, like trusting God.  Doing the best  we can for others  and us, letting the chips fall where they may. Expect nothing and much.  Let His Will  be done.

I have learned never to stop hoping, I have learned that when we do,  we  perish...  

that was what i meant and thank you for help. this is faith..

keeping hope alive and  not complaining god,existence , other  people who dont care about us, are all gifts from god.. you nice people made me feel better thank you.. and congratulations for these way of thinkings.. we must do our best, what we're able to, god is right here with us and helping us and we're hearing or feeling it with the virtue of noticing its presence.. praying only,is not the solution . lets keep praying+programing+doing what we can+expecting responds this is our job if we get any answer or not.. the point is ''human expect these tasks from itself '' or it is dead.. 

and I'd like to weigh in on thisfrom the perspective of a psychologist and humanist.
Most of what the Bible tells us to do really contributes to mental health. Things like devotion, compassion, Golden rule, love and generosity and humility will make us better humans and help contribute to well-being.
That's what I try to achieve in my life and that's what I encourage in the lives of my patients and students. But that does not necessarily have to do with a God per se, it has to do with that spark of goodness that lives inside of all of us. And if you want to call that spark of goodness God, I couldn't agree more.
A marquee when a church in my neighborhood once said: "God is love". I agree completely and I also think the reverse is true – love is God.
Life is better for those who believe in a loving compassionate God. They tend to recover more quickly from trauma and live longer. But certainly trusting research data might change somebody's beliefs, but believing in a higher power really is a leap of faith – as it should be

I couldn't agree more Dr. Dan.......and I'd like to think that that leap of faith comes to many of  us, when we get the end of ourselves ...........when we're at our wits end......when we don't know what else to do. It's usually then......when the thought of God comes in........when we take that " leap of faith ". Maybe it was designed that way.......I don't have the answers......maybe we're not supposed to have the answers.......faith ?- as it should be ?