Today, God answered a prayer. It was not what any of us had hoped, but it is what God knows is best.
When my husband and I moved here seven months ago, we met another American couple, Heather & Austin, who have become good friends. They have an 18 month-old son and just had twin girls two months ago. One of the girls, Noa, was born with a heart problem. The problem was diagnosed in utero, and so for the past seven months we, along with many others, have been praying. We’ve prayed for healing, restoration, a miracle, “God-sized” things, for Noa to go home and so much more. All this we prayed, and today, after two months of battling – battling in prayer; Noa battling in her incubator – the battle was won by the Lord Almighty.
We prayed for her to go home. In our human minds, of course we meant home with her parents, brother and sister. God called her home to Paradise, to live with Him, her adoring Father. We prayed for restoration and healing. Today, she is without pain in a glorified body.
“God saved Noa” is the name of the blog my friend started when her twins were born. In her last post today she wrote, “God saved Noa…just not in the way we all wanted him to.”
A few of us were with Heather and Austin at the hospital praying when it was confirmed that Noa was no longer alive. As tears of sadness streaked down my face, I prayed over my friends. I watched as they held their baby, so tiny and unmoving. In that moment, though, I felt the Lord’s goodness. His character was shining in that room amongst the grief. His daughter WAS home. She will never know heartache, anger, discouragement, confusion or fear. Her feet will not walk on the streets of earth where sin lives, but rather only on streets paved with gold. “She is playing with Jesus,” Heather wrote in her blog post.
Prayer is a powerful. Although the answers may come in different ways than we want or hope, God DOES answer prayer. Today, I was really convinced of that, and I thank God for this confirmation. I continue to pray that no doubt of His goodness will sink into the heart of my friends or the many others who lifted Noa up day after day after day.
The other prayer we’ve prayed time and again is that Noa would be a testimony of God’s glory and that He would use her to bring many Turkish people into a relationship with Him; that Noa’s life would advance the Lord’s Kingdom. We continue to pray this and believe it will happen.
Please join us in praying that God will continue to use Noa and all that her family is experiencing for His glory. Please pray for Heather and Austin in this time.
In loving memory of God’s Warrior Princess, Noa Ruth. February 8, 2014 – April 9, 2014