Hospital Series Archives

Dedication

By Andrew YoungDecember 31, 2012Hospital Series

As those familiar with the Ezra Ministry will know, it began in challenging personal circumstances. My wife Nola had suffered a major stroke in October 2011 and was still in hospital struggling to regain normal life functions when the Ministry commenced in February 2012. In view of that, and the fact that many people had been deeply moved by hospital updates I had written over the previous weeks, it was decided to launch the Ezra Ministry by writing a series of stories reflecting on God’s presence and help during the difficult phase of life we were passing through. Reader response […]

Alpha and Omega

By Andrew YoungDecember 31, 2012Hospital Series

Over the past months I have written about a number of Bible verses that came alive to me during the weeks when Nola was critically ill. I have no doubt that this was the primary way God demonstrated his presence and care during that time. Through his Word, made vivid through the Holy Spirit, he strengthened our hearts and comforted us. There is one last verse I want to write about before drawing this series to a close. More accurately, it is not a single verse but a saying that is repeated three times in the book of Revelation, “I […]

“More than Conquerors”

By Andrew YoungDecember 31, 2012Hospital Series

During the early months of Nola’s recovery the words “more than conquerors” often came to mind. They did so with such frequency that I felt bound to stop and think about them and how they related to our circumstances. I was well aware that the words themselves came from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans (Romans 8:37). Speaking of the impossibility of Christians being separated from the love of Christ he asks, “Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword [separate us from the love of Christ]?” Triumphantly he responds, “No, in all […]

Beyond Trust to Faith

By Andrew YoungDecember 31, 2012Hospital Series

As distant as events connected with the early days of Nola’s illness are becoming, there are still one or two I want to write about. One of these is a lesson on the difference between trust and faith. I recall vividly when and how I learned this lesson. It was Saturday afternoon, November 5th 2011. I had spent the earlier part of the day with Nola in hospital and had returned to our Dunedin home-base exhausted and saddened. These were still very early post-stroke days, and Nola was hovering between life and death. That afternoon as I arrived home, I […]

No Longer Two But One

By Andrew YoungDecember 31, 2012Hospital Series

In the last Ezra Story I wrote of how God comforted me through his Word and Spirit after I received news of the seriousness of Nola’s illness. On two successive mornings passages from the Bible were brought home to my heart with power. The first related to the nature of love and my duty to love Nola as Jesus loved me (1 John 3:16). The second assured me that, in spite of what had happened to Nola, we were – and always would be – “one” in God’s sight. This second lesson, like the first, occurred while meeting with God […]

Loving Like Jesus

By Andrew YoungDecember 31, 2012Hospital Series

As the seriousness of Nola’s illness began to hit home I found myself wondering how it was going to affect our future. It was one thing to endure a short-term critical illness with the hope of a complete recovery; it was another to cope with a long-term, high-care disability. What would this mean in terms of ministry, everyday lifestyle, and income-earning ability? In short, how would it affect our future? God knew my thoughts and comforted me through his Word on two successive mornings. I remember those moments vividly. Kind friends had made their town house in Dunedin available for […]

A Steadfast Heart

By Andrew YoungDecember 31, 2012Hospital Series

October 27th 2012 is a date I will always remember. It was on that day I learned that Nola had suffered a severe stroke. It was also the day on which I experienced in a remarkable way God’s power to support in a time of crisis. We were in Dunedin, the largest city of the southern part of the South Island of New Zealand at the time. Nola had been flown there from Kew Hospital in Invercargill after being placed on a ventilator to assist her breathing. The complications associated with her illness required top-level intensive care, and it was […]

The Triumph of Trust

By Andrew YoungDecember 31, 2012Hospital Series

[Note: This is the second in a series of stories of God working through his Spirit and Word to bring inner strength during recent experiences associated with my wife Nola’s illness.] Sometimes I regret being wired with the particular nervous temperament that I have. While it has certain advantages, it makes me prone to anxiety more than many people. And over the past months I’ve had plenty of occasions to be anxious. This was particularly so in the early days of Nola’s illness. After being transferred to Kew Hospital in Invercargill in mid-October last year, Nola’s lung problems continued to […]

A Changed Man

By Andrew YoungDecember 31, 2012Hospital Series

Within our Reformed and evangelical tradition it is common to hear people say that God works in human lives today through his “Word and Spirit.” Seldom, however, do we hear details of how that happens and the effects it has on people. In the early weeks of my wife Nola’s current illness there were several times when I was aware of God strengthening me through his Spirit and Word. Definite passages of the Bible were brought to mind and impressed upon my heart in such a way that I knew I was being inwardly helped. I recorded several of these […]

A Heart-Moving God

By Andrew YoungDecember 31, 2012Hospital Series

I am writing this, the first of our Ezra Stories, sitting in my new book-lined study in Auckland, New Zealand. I look out through a window past newly-planted petunias and geraniums onto an attractive tree-lined street that has been described as “the nicest street in a poor part of Auckland.” As I do so, my heart overflows with thanks to God for providing such a place to live in. Let me tell you how we came to be here. As the time approached for Nola and me to relocate to Auckland, we were both aware of the challenge of finding […]