Weaknesses! We all have them, but rarely do you see someone boasting about them. In fact, we view them as a negative thing, and try to hide them. We portray to the world this résumé full of all our key strengths and abilities.
I want to challenge you by saying, God sees the résumé of your life, with all your failures and weaknesses and says, “I CAN USE THAT.”
God has given Vahen King a unique platform to showcase His power and unfailing love. She was recently named “Miss Wheelchair Canada” and competed internationally for Canada.
Vahen King
“God, I’ll love and serve You with all of my heart.” That was my honest prayer.
In my first year in Bible College I told God that I would go through anything as long as I knew He was with me. I truly believed, “that with God all things were possible.” Matthew 19:26
After graduating Bible College, I received an engagement ring from the love of my life. The day Vaughan asked me to marry him, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
My Pain
One week to the day after Vaughan proposed, my life took a drastic turn. I experienced excruciating pain in my upper chest and back, and I was rushed to the hospital. As I waited to see the doctor, I remember trying to roll over, but couldn’t move my legs. I knew something wasn’t right, and cried out for the nurse.
When I told her what was happening, she immediately wheeled me into the emergency ward. Every 15 minutes they would check my vitals. I was losing feeling and movement so rapidly, that the doctors were scared my lungs would fail, and they would lose me. By evening, I was paralyzed from the chest down, with no use of my right arm.
No one knew what was wrong with me.
I was terrified, and overwhelmed with fear. I cried out, “God, I’m so scared!” But in that moment, I felt Him say, “I am with you always.” Knowing God was with me, gave me a peace that I cannot explain.
My Diagnosis
I was subjected to every test you can imagine. A month later, the specialist told me, “Vahen you have Transverse Myelitis. There is nothing we can do. From now on you will require medical care and be dependent on the use of a wheelchair. We are going to send you to a facility where you’ll receive full-time support.”
During all the uncertainty surrounding my health, my biggest question was, “Do I still have a fiancé?”
I had to ask Vaughan if he still wanted to marry me. You can imagine my surprise when I heard the words, “Vahen, I love you! God gave you to me, I’m not going to give you back now and say you’re not good enough!”
Looking forward to our future together, I ignored the doctor’s prognosis, and focused on my rehabilitation, planning our wedding and walking down the aisle.
Our Wedding
One year after the doctors said I would never walk again, with my parents on either side of me, I walked the aisle to meet my groom.
Vaughan and I were beginning our life together – a little differently than most young married couples, but we assumed that our biggest problems were behind us.
However, that was just the beginning of the many challenges we’d face as a newlywed couple.
Surrender
I surrendered all my failures and weaknesses to God, and He said, “I CAN USE THAT.” This was no overnight operation, but I did have a heart transplant. He has totally transformed my life and my marriage, and filled me with so much love and joy! Now He is using it as a platform to showcase His overcoming power.
In what ways do you feel weak or not enough? My challenge to you is this, instead of being ashamed of your weaknesses, surrender them fully to God, so He can give you His power.
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
APPLICATION: Please leave a comment for Vahen below. Thank you.
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