Land of the Living

Listen:

“I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.” (Psalms 27:13 AMP)

Reflect:

My eyes strained beyond the snow-covered vineyard and gazed on the silvery sheet of still waters, but my mind was nothing like the calm Lake Leman. Tears scorched my cheeks. My heart groaned with pain; words could not describe it. My body was wasting away under the crushing pressure of affliction. 

I was in the Respiratory Rehabilitation Hospital on a hill overlooking Lake Leman, confined to the yellow pastel-themed isolation room. The yellow mocked me with its double-edged meaning. What should have been a warm, inviting room was a place people were asked to enter with caution as a highly contagious pathogen sought to destroy my lungs. I was in quarantine. The yellow label on the door screamed, “Arret!” Green protective covers, face masks and gloves must be worn before entering this room. This was ten years before Covid. I would not dare go to sleep without the mask of the ventilator on my face. 

That morning the nurse who brought in my breakfast tray recoiled from me like I was a contagion—carrying a plague. My soul reeled with agonizing pain. In desperation, I cried to the Lord. “God, where are You?” My spirit was overwhelmed as I complained in the bitterness of my soul.

The light of hope beamed into the room; it seemed the yellow maize hues of the curtain glowed. Words of comfort leapt out of Psalms 27:13; “You will live to testify of the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”

My spirit latched on to these words. They anchored me through the storms of the remaining two years of waiting for lung transplantation and the complications afterwards. 

Questions to Ponder:

To whom do you turn when your soul is in anguish?

Would you cry to the God who already knows where you are in the storm and promises to attend to your voice when you cry out to Him?

Prayer of Response:

“How can I say thanks for all the things God has done for me? Things so undeserved, but He gave to prove His love for me. The voice of a million angels cannot express my gratitude….”

Thank You, God, for keeping me in the land of the living to testify of Your goodness ten years after lung transplantation. I am forever grateful for the Two who died for me to live—my Lord Jesus and my Organ Donor.

—Submitted by Irene Olumese
Irene is a lung transplant survivor and bilateral amputee who speaks and writes to inspire hope. As a certified Faith-Informed Transformational/Trauma Coach, Irene helps those facing adversities go beyond their traumatic experiences and find meaningful purpose. Irene is the Founder of the Feet of Grace Foundation, a charity organisation that provides prosthetic limbs for indigene amputees. She lives in Geneva with her husband, Peter.