HAVE I NOT COMMANDED YOU?!

Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous, for The Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.  Joshua 1:9

As a Christian, this verse can be so empowering.  Makes you feel like you can put on your battle armor, get on your horse, and ride into battle with your beard and chest hair flowing in the wind.  But I had come to realize something else about it as I was sharing it to encourage Osman…

Osman was your typical teenager… he played soccer, hung out with friends, and probably even was known to get into his fair share of trouble until he was left paralyzed from the waist down after falling from a tree.  I first met Osman when he came to our hospital several months ago after being discovered by my friend Donna Faircloth on a medical clinic.  When I had first met him, he was quiet and reserved as he followed me around in his wheelchair and made small talk.  Despite the evidence of a large sacral pressure ulcer, his mama was patient and kind and spent each day carefully changing and turning her disabled son.

After only about a week, I realized how talkative Osman was.  He was not the quiet kid following me around, he would yell “Hola Wendy!” when he saw me, and he’s ask me to come cut his hair or read him a book.  I loved spending time with Osman and his mom, and they shared a room with Valentine who I loved to visit with (I’ll share his story another day, as his is really good too.)

Osman returned home with his mom, and life carried on until Donna had asked me to join her team from Lighthouse Church for a medical clinic and to stop in and check on Osman.  She had mentioned he looked very bad and seemed depressed.  When I entered his house, I found that he was severely emaciated, his ulcers had become worse, and he was very depressed at his circumstances.  He hardly even smiled when I walked in, he could barely even lift his head.

We brought him right back to the hospital where he could receive the medical care and nutrition he needed.  Only this time, his condition was largely brought on by hopelessness.  2 years after his accident and reality set in that he would never walk again.  So he began to give up.  However, I wasn’t about to stand along the sidelines and watch him waste away.  I read him the book of Joshua and explained to him how it meant a lot to me, how God’s promise that “I will give you every place where you set your foot” was encouraging for me to be bold enough to pick up and move to Guatemala, and how during my difficult days I really had to depend on The Lord for strength.  He loved the story too.

So day by tedious day, we worked on physical strength as well as his emotional strength.  When he would tune me out and pick up his phone to play games, I would explain to him that if he kept trying, he could eventually transfer himself in and out of his wheelchair which would help his mom and allow him to move more and prevent ulcers from forming.  Day by day we would do arm exercises, lifting books, bottles, and bags until he gained strength and confidence.

I laughed, as I explained it to Osman and his mom…  Yeah, we look to the second part of Joshua 1:9 to empower us… but almost just as importantly, I love how it is preceded by “Have I not commanded you?”  If God had the same attitude I had, it would have been in all-caps and followed by not just a question mark, but an exclamation point too…  “HAVE I NOT COMMANDED YOU?!” I felt like saying that to Osman several times throughout his care when he felt like not doing his exercises for the day as he wasn’t seeing immediate results.  “HAVE I NOT TOLD YOU?!”  Osman came to appreciate this verse– the perpetual reminder to be strong, and the exasperated author (or in my case, speaker) who had to verbalize a little frustration through the process.  As Osman leaned more on this verse, the darkness of depression lifted from him as he gained his strength.

He finally got healthy enough to go back home again, but I pray that this time he has a truth in his heart to encourage him through the difficult days.  I pray he hears me harping “HAVE I NOT COMMANDED YOU?!  Be strong and courageous!” as he continues his exercises to build upper body strength.  I pray he knows how deeply he’s cared for, and that he will continue to grow in this.

Like Osman, you are also so very loved.
-Whitney