Years ago when I was just out of high school, I was driving my little Honda Civic to youth group. As I drove through an intersection, a lady ran a stop sign, driving out in front of me before I could stop, and I totaled my car. I also managed to ruin my back.

From that day on, I dealt with doctor’s visits and back pain constantly. I had MRI’s, physical therapy, back exercises, and nothing helped. It was manageable without prescription medication and I didn’t need surgery, but it was a constant hindrance. I could no longer go backpacking, because the weight of my pack was too much for my injury. I was a summer intern on a ropes course, but could no longer do many of the climbing activities and had to work on the ground instead.

My quality of life had most definitely changed and it was frustrating and depressing at times.

I prayed for healing. When I went to church, others would pray for me. But it didn’t work. I still struggled through and learned to live differently. I doubted myself and wondered if my faith just wasn’t strong enough. The lack of healing was surely from something I wasn’t doing right.

I just didn’t get it… Why wouldn’t God heal me?

A few years after the accident, I found a new physical therapist and we started seeing progress! One of the treatments she used was a Tens (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) unit. It was painful, and I would leave her office in more pain than when I came in, but as time passed, it just continued to get better and better.

Time passed, and I had to stop going to therapy because I just didn’t have enough money to continue paying the bills. I continued doing exercises at home and hoped for the best.

I remember one day I was just sitting around not doing much and it hit me. I’m healed! It had been such a long and gradual process, that I almost didn’t even realize it.

I give God the credit for my healing. Yes, He provided healing for me by using conventional methods of medicine instead of instantly during a moment of prayer. Does that mean He doesn’t get credit for healing me? I could have gone to the doctor for years without seeing any results, but you can’t deny my back was healed.

Just because things often don’t happen in the way we would like, or perhaps the way we might imagine they should, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give credit where credit is due. God has provided us with modern medicine. It is by His hand that we are healed.

As I looked back at the journey I had to go through to find healing, I realized that because it took time and effort, I appreciated the healing so much more. Had I been miraculously healed, I fear I would have been no different from story of the ten lepers. Ten were healed, but only one returned to give Jesus praise and glory.