As seems to be the case every time I get sick, I learned a powerful lesson this week. I’ve been fighting off this illness for two weeks, my stubbornness going head to head with my body’s desire to succumb. On Monday night, my throat started to hurt. Continuing in my pride, however, I asserted that I would be fine, took some Tylenol, and went to bed. I woke up about 2 hours later and spent the next 4 hours trying to sleep in spite of a spiking fever and incessant aches. I knew I needed a blessing, but didn’t know how to get to my father to get one. I tried to persuade my cat to go wake my mom (which was very much unsuccessful since he only wanted me to get him some water and let him cuddle with my feet), and prayed with all my energy for some kind of miracle.
I was finally able to muster the strength to go to my parents’ room and ask my dad for a blessing. I thought that when I received it, I would start to feel better. I have developed a genuine testimony of the power of Priesthood blessings, and I knew that the Lord was capable of relieving my pain. I was a little frustrated when I still felt just as terrible following the blessing as before it. My head and body hurt too much to sleep or really move at all, but I was too nauseous to take any medicine for the pain. It was another two hours before I managed to down some ice chips, a couple crackers, and some medication.
I kept waiting to feel better. I was confused and disappointed that my recovery was taking so long. At dinner tonight (the end of my second day of recovery), my dad said the prayer and in it he thanked the Lord for helping me recover. It was that moment that opened my eyes.
I had created in my head a vision of what a miracle would look like. The prayers from my bed, the Priesthood blessing I had been extended, I thought that they would relieve my pain and revive my strength. I thought it would be quick, like water to wine. It turns out, that’s not the way it always works. Sometimes miracles take longer than we’d like, but that doesn’t make them any less miraculous.
In less than 30 hours, I went from having a fever of 102 to being fever-free. I went from dealing with a piercing headache and paralyzing body aches to a sore neck and boredom. Miracles happen. They are real. God is aware of us and our circumstances; he is watching over us.
Miracles happen. They may not come in the form we want or expect, but they do come, and they are custom designed to fit our specific situations. Our Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need, and that is what He will bless us with, in His own time.