BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS

It was more than 40 years ago in South Korea. Just before I was moved to the operating room, I opened the Upper Room devotional book. The scripture passage for that day was from the book of Joshua in the Old Testament. The Lord said to Joshua, “Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

This was the message I needed most that October morning. I was deeply touched by the Lord’s promise. As the Lord was with Moses, and as the Lord was with Joshua, God will be with me. With this assurance, I went to the operating room with peace in my mind.

I underwent a right upper lobectomy, an operation to remove a large portion of my lung damaged by tuberculosis. But I had a very difficult time during the surgery because of bleeding. Twice the doctors tried to stop my bleeding, but they could not. I remained in the operating room for more than 28 hours and received about 25 pints of blood.

When my home church heard that I had been in a critical situation, they started praying for me. Some of the members came to church and prayed the whole night. One of the Wesleyan class leaders saw me in her vision while she was praying for me. I appeared to her wearing a white robe. When she saw me, she praised God because she had known that the color of white meant victory in the Bible. The pastor of my home church shared this story with me and said: “Young Jin, I don’t think you will die. We are praying for you really hard.”

At that time, though I really wanted to pray, I could not because the pain was so severe. But whenever I remembered that somebody was praying for me in this time of difficulty, I always found comfort, hope, and strength to face the painful situation. I experienced the power and the importance of intercessory prayers.

The following year, I underwent another lung surgery. It took about two years for me to fully recover from all surgeries, infections, and side effects. In this long and painful journey, I frequently asked whether the Lord was still with me. Our God always kept His promise faithfully and was with me even though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death.

His presence did not mean the exemption from pains and sufferings. But in God’s presence, I experienced the amazing grace and blessings hidden in sufferings. Because of this painful but precious experience, I have been sharing the power of praying for one another and the Good News of “Immanuel (God is with us).”

— –Young Jin Cho,
District Superintendent of the Arlington District
Virginia Conference, United Methodist Church

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist