This weeks Word of Witness: “The Power of Prayer” By Doug Stockton “Your boy will never see. There’s nothing more I can do. The best I can do is to refer him to the Academy for the Blind.” The words of our 4-year old son’s prognosis were delivered by his pediatric ophthalmologist with the same swiftness and shock of a boxer’s powerful punch landing squarely on his opponent’s jaw. In much the same way, my wife and I felt knocked for a loop. We knew our son David had some problems. But, never had we guessed that he was suffering from congenital cataracts from birth. Previously, when we would tell his pediatrician of David’s vision problems, the doctor would slough it off as overprotective parents. Finally, as David neared his first year in school, we insisted that the pediatrician do something. Not having the expertise to diagnose our boy’s sight ailment, the doctor referred David to a specialist in pediatric ophthalmology. Two weeks later, after receiving from the specialist, both the diagnosis of congenital cataracts and the heart-rending prognosis of a life of blindness, I went to work that afternoon in a daze. The doctor had told us that any attempted surgery would be too risky to even be considered. As a Christian and a pastor of a growing church, I had always been the one to help others through issues like this. As I stared at the walls of the church office, it began to sink in that David would likely never enjoy the normal experiences of growing up. Things like playing sports or driving a car seemed to be impossibilities. As I prayed and wept before the Lord, the phone rang. I picked up the receiver to hear my Sunday School Superintendent lamenting over her difficulty in finding volunteers to teach. She must have heard the despair in my voice because she asked me if anything was wrong. As I poured out my heart, she listened attentively. When I finally stopped talking, she asked me if she could arrange a 24-hour prayer vigil at the church to pray for David. While thinking it wouldn’t really matter, I gave her my approval. The prayer vigil took place overnight the following Friday. During the 24-hour period between noon Friday and noon the next day, dozens of church members gathered in one hour increments at the church to pray for David. It was during this time that my wife and I received the name of another pediatric ophthalmologist to call about getting a second opinion. Still feeling hopeless, I called the first thing Monday morning to make an appointment. Four days later, we took David in for his appointment. After an extensive battery of tests, we met with the new specialist. His diagnosis was exactly the same; congenital cataracts. However, his prognosis was completely different. He recommended surgery. While he admitted there were some risks involved with the surgery, the doctor felt certain that he could improve David’s vision to at least 20/30 with glasses, well above what was considered legally blind. Worried about the risks involved with the surgery, I asked the doctor what he would recommend. He immediately replied, “If it was my son, I’d do the surgery as soon as possible.” Suddenly there was hope where before there had been only despair. Over the next couple of months, David had his eyes operated on, one at a time. After each surgery, the doctor tested each eye with corrective lenses and David’s world began to open up. I’ll never forget the day we were driving home from one of David’s follow-up appointments. He sat next to me in the front seat. As he stared out the windshield, he pointed at a blue water tower some two miles off in the distance and asked what it was. He had never seen it before, even though we often drove that road. With eyes welling up with tears, I answered his question and joyfully thanked God for answered prayer.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 23:35:23 +0000
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