The Miracle Child

Adalheid told me
That her nephew,
Who is lying in the hospital,
Was her friend's and brother's
"Miracle child."
He was the child
That she shouldn't have
Been able to conceive,
Because she'd been stricken
With Hodgkin's disease.
Yet,
She conceived,
And twenty-four years later,
That child is hanging somewhere
Between life and death.

Lord,
I'm not sure I even know
What to pray for.
But I will entreat You
On this boy's behalf
To the best of my limited knowledge.

Hezekiah called to You from his deathbed.
He cried out to You
Even after You had sent Isaiah
To proclaim his imminent death to him.
He lamented,
And called on You to remember him,
And You delivered him from the pit.
You plucked his soul
Back from the edge of Sheol. *

If it be Your Will
That this boy should not live,
Then gently take him home with You,
And end his family's and loved ones' anguish.

But...
You have it in Your Power
To pluck his soul
Back from Sheol.
You have it in Your Power
To make the swelling in his brain go down...
To make him open his eyes
And breathe on his own...
To restore him,
In the fullness of time,
To something resembling a normal life.
O Lord,
Won't You do this?

I read in the Psalms
Just a few days ago
"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." **
Precious, in this usage,
Means "costly."
If, therefore, costly, O Lord,
Then ransom the boy's soul back from death.

Some live. Some die.
We don't know why.
Those of us who trust in You
Try to encourage the rest of the world
To do the same in moments like these.

...But, Father, I have to tell You,
And I know You already know,
That in our hearts,
We are praying for
Miraculous, Divine intervention.
It doesn't always happen,
But still we pray for it,
And we're praying for a lot of it
Right now...

* Isaiah 38
**Psalms 116:15