Inside Story: Walking by Faith

Rex lay in bed, unable to move his legs. The doctor’s words hung heavy in the air. “You’ll never walk again,” he’d said.

What will happen to my family? Rex wondered. Rex knew that his own stubbornness had put him where he was.

Two years earlier Rex’s uncle had offered to pay his daughters’ tuition if Rex enrolled them in the Adventist school. Rex agreed. Soon the girls asked to attend Sabbath School. His wife went with them, but Rex said he had to work.

Rex went to special meetings at church after work, and he became convinced that what Adventists taught was the truth. But he resisted the invitation to surrender his life to God. He smoked and he drank, and he wasn’t sure he could quit. But he did agree to study the Bible with a believer during his lunch hour.

When Rex’s wife wanted to be baptized, Rex urged her to do so. “I may follow one day,” he’d said.

Then after months of studying the Bible, Rex agreed to be baptized. He hoped that baptism would change him. But it didn’t. He was the same man he had been before. He didn’t let God rule his life.

Then the accident changed everything. Rex had tried to solve his problems himself. Now he was helpless. The pastor and church members visited Rex and encouraged him to trust God. Rex prayed for forgiveness, and again he surrendered his life to God. But this time he meant it. Rex asked God for healing and promised that no matter what, he would put his faith in God and attend church as soon as he was able.

During his months in bed, Rex spent hours praying and reading his Bible. As he grew spiritually, he felt his body grow stronger. A year after the accident, Rex took his first wobbly steps. Six months later, he could walk without pain.

Rex kept his promise and attended church with his family. He praised God for every degree of healing. He found work. It didn’t pay as much as his old job, but Rex found that even after returning tithe and offerings, the money went further.

“The accident that crippled me brought healing to my soul,” Rex says. “I’m grateful that God used the Adventist school to help my family find salvation in Jesus.”

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Rex and his family live in southeastern India.