Hugs From God

By Susan Coons

Recently, I struggled with political events and felt anxious enough to have sleepless nights.

One night, I cried out to God for some sense that He still cared for this land and for me. The next day on my email two friends sent two short stories about ways that God cares for us and how we are to care about each other in a similar way. That seemed to me like a Hug from God.

Calmed, I started back in on a children’s book that I had been trying to finish.

for seven years that still did not seem right. Yet, in that morning, all of the pages were ready for the artist. Stunned, I knew that this was a hug of encouragement like others that God had given over the years

Another time, my car skidded off the road in ice and I found myself with severe back pain. The next Sunday, I hobbled to church. A lady stood up when the pastor asked about praise reports. “I asked you to pray for me and my MS that has kept me In a wheel chair. You did and now I can walk!” This was a church where a prayer chain had been formed. This ladies’ dancing in the aisles taught me the Power of Prayer.

I raised my hand. “Whoever prayed for that lady, please pray for me. I am in pain,” I said. The next morning I awoke at 2:30 am with a feeling like acupuncture needles running down my spine. When the sensation was over, the deep pain was gone—another hug from God.

Later, our prayer group heard about a fellow writer, Georgia, given several months before

losing her sight. We started to pray. The next week, Georgia told me of watching TV just to hear the voices of newscasters. Suddenly, she saw sticks on the screen that became people. God gave sight back to Georgia.

Years later, a rope tied to my garage door came untied. The door went up. I slipped and hit the cement with the back of my head. The doctor said I had a concussion and a torn rotator cuff. He suggested surgery and drugs for pain with possibly side effects. I decided to forgo the drugs and prayed with friends about the surgery. Within a few weeks, the concussion was gone. With the help of a chiropractor so was the pain in the back and shoulder. For me, it was another “Hug from God” that these friends were willing to spend time praying for me.

This same prayer group had read Catherine Marshall’s book, In Search of Deeper Faith. We knew from her story that God could take care of challenges for all of us. With Georgia’s amazing healing, God offered us another “Hug from Heaven.” God perfects that which concerns us. Some pray alone: some stay connected, but we can know that “Prayer changes things” and helps keep those hugs from God coming.

Susan Coons writes from Coos Bay, Oregon.