The critical state of one so close to your heart is a heavy blow, and you bear it with the anguish of a soul that knows all earthly help is frail. Fear is natural in such a storm; yet let that very fear drive you, not to despair, but to firm adoration of the Lord who holds every breath in His hand. Did not the women at the tomb tremble with fear and great joy when Christ met them? He drew near and cast out their terror, saying, “Be not afraid,” and sent them to carry good news. So now, in your trembling, draw near to Him through prayer, and hear His voice bidding you trust.
You have asked once, and now you ask again, and some might grow weary or think it vain. But I tell you, it is not in vain. Consider the tree that is struck ten times and stands, then falls at a single blow: it was not the final stroke alone that felled it, but all the strokes before. Persistent prayer works in like manner; though you see no change now, every earnest cry before God softens the hardness of the trial and prepares the way for deliverance. Do not let your hearing become dull or your heart cold from the pain. Afflictions can cause a sluggishness of soul, yet it is precisely now that you must stir up your zeal and refuse to give way to sloth.
God knows the secrets of every heart. As the angel of old perceived the unspoken suspicions of Joseph and brought him peace, so the Lord understands the unspoken groaning of your spirit for the sick one. He sees the love, the fear, the hope all mingled together. Bring these openly before Him, and do not think that your repeated request offends Him. On the contrary, it is the mark of a soul that refuses to let go of the hem of His garment.
But while you pray for the body, do not neglect the soul, yours and his. In such trials we are often blinded by what we think we need, like a film gathering over the eye of faith. Let this urgent need become a medicine to clear your sight. Seek the fullness of God, that you may be filled with every virtue and with a right knowledge of His will. For the truest healing flows from a heart reconciled to its Maker.
Continue therefore to entreat the Great Physician and to gather with the faithful in prayer. Even if you depart from the gathering feeling no immediate comfort, yet some profit will lodge in your soul, like the fragrance clinging to one who passes through a perfumer’s shop. And if you groan before Him, confessing, “I hear and yet my faith is weak,” that very groan shall not go unanswered; it is a step toward the doing.
Be not afraid, these words are for you. Place your loved one entirely in the hands that were pierced for our salvation. We join with you, asking boldly for a full recovery, yet bowing to His perfect wisdom. He who stilled the storm can restore health in an instant; and if He delays, it is only to work a deeper work. Stand fast, then, in hope and holy fear, and do not cease your supplications.