In the potter’s hand

“God is too wise to be mistaken, God is too good to be unkind. …So when you don’t understand, when you don’t see His plan, when you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart…” so goes one of Ely’s favorite songs…

In October of 2005 during our Women’s Retreat, a few selected ladies were asked to share their personal testimonies while their lives were being shaped on the Potter’s Wheel. How I admired their strength and faith as they surrendered themselves to the hands of the Master Artist. At that time I was pleading to God not to put me on that dreadful wheel, with the wound from losing a beloved mother still fresh in my heart.

Little did I know that four months later, we (Ely, Rezne, Elnathan and I) would be the next lump of clay on that machine. The initial spin was scary. To witness Ely walk through the valley of death and fight for his life in the first 12 hours, the first 24 hours—the first blinking of his eyes, the first turning of his head, the first grip of his hand, the first smile, the first word, the first hug—were all faith-stretching and energy-sapping.

On the first Sunday of 2006, Pastor Roger Abe encouraged us to ask God for His specific promise for us as we face the New Year. Ely and I found ours in the book of Psalms 147, particularly verses 10-14: “His delight is not in the strength of the horse nor His pleasure in the speed of a runner. But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His steadfast love.

“Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! For He strengthens the bars of your gates; He blesses your children within you. He grants peace within your borders; He fills you with the finest of wheat.”

This one great promise served as my refuge in those trying nights. He does not delight in Ely’s or mine or our family’s abilities and strength, all He wants from us is to trust in His unfailing love and He will take care of the rest.

During this crisis, while Ely was in the ICU, Pastor Abe challenged me to be just like Caleb who, at the age of 85, asked for the hill country of Hebron from Joshua. He was old but he was still willing to fight. Pastor Abe told me, “Just accept the challenge, do not resist God.” That early Thursday morning, one week after the incident, I prayed to God: “OK Lord, I accept this challenge but please give me the strength and courage, along with the faith that I need to survive and be victorious over this mountain.” It’s like I submitted myself to His wheelchair and just let Him wheel me in whatever laboratory of faith He would want to show me.

In one particular “testing room,” when, after a series of lab tests that showed that Ely’s heart is strong and the arteries are not clogged and the doctors recommended that he be implanted a defibrillator (a very costly device that was not covered by our insurance), God gave me a very timely and specific promise in Joshua’s parting words to his kinsmen (Joshua 23:14): “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one thing has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you; all have come to pass for you, not one of them has failed.”

Indeed, all have come to pass for us: the timely arrival of the policemen and the ambulance, the excellent medical team and Ely’s revival at the ER, the critical seven days at the ICU, the next four recovery days at the regular ward, the flight to Manila, the appeal to Staywell Insurance, the surgery at St. Luke’s, the 24/7 watching of the left arm (because he could not remember the left arm precaution), the money, the memory—all of the tiny details in this great miracle were in the loving hands of the all-knowing and all-powerful God.

As our lives are being reshaped by the Master Artist, please allow me to thank each and everyone of you who helped us in every way to make our load much, much lighter to bear. You carried us not only in your arms but more so on your bended knees. We are deeply touched and humbled by the outpouring of love for us, first from our Saipan Community Church family, which sprang out from every heart on this island and every corner of the world. Your prayers, your time and your visits to the hospital, your cards, your financial and emotional support, your loving thoughts and the well-meant “How are you’s” everytime you see us…they undoubtedly helped us walk this narrow path. We never thought we were very much loved. It is evidently God’s love flowing through each and everyone of you. May our ever-faithful and all-knowing God bless you a hundred times over. What you did and are still doing will be remembered and passed on to our grandchildren and to Rezne and Elnathan’s great-great-grandchildren. May it be that like David’s pledge to Jonathan, God will help our family return the favor to you in the years and generations to come.

The journey isn’t over yet…the wheel is still spinning. As we all wait for God’s complete restoration of Ely’s memory, may we be reminded that He who promised to bring this to pass is faithful. He will surely do it! To God alone be the glory!

Millet, Rezne and Elnathan Wong
San Antonio Village, Saipan.