“I was admitted to the hospital,” Joy remembers, “but I kept getting sicker as they tried to diagnose me. Turns out, I had pyelonephritis, an infection in the kidneys. It was caused by E. coli, and I had become septic. As my kidneys shut down, I had 30 pounds of fluid on my body. My skin was so tight it felt like I was going to burst.
“One organ after another shut down. I had about 10 doctors. I couldn’t think clearly. My vision was blurry. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t stand. I felt like I was dying. I couldn’t move my arms or legs. All I could do was just lay there.”
A couple of Joy’s physicians talked to Del in private.
“You need to prepare yourself for the worst,” they told him. “She’ll never recover from this. Even if she survives, she won’t recover.”
“I understand what you’re saying medically,” Del replied. “But we’re Christians. We believe that Joy is totally healed. We’ll do what we have to medically in terms of treatment, but we’re standing for total healing.”
Faith That Refuses To Quit
Del had been watching Kenneth Copeland long enough that nothing could budge him from his faith stand. In Joy’s hospital room, she looked up at him with weary eyes. “They don’t think I’m going to make it.”
“You’re not dying,” he said. “I know how God works. But while you’re here, why don’t you minister to other people?”
Joy looked at her husband as though he’d lost his mind.
What’s wrong with him?
Later, she felt convicted.
Why not do what God has created me to do so long as there is breath in my body?
She began praying for other people. Some who’d been scheduled for surgery turned out not to need it. Women having trouble delivering babies came through just fine. People were getting healed right and left.
Meanwhile, Joy’s situation got worse.
She was sleeping, only vaguely aware when her friend, an anesthesiologist, came into the room. She took one look at Joy and said, “Oh, no.” She laid her hands on Joy and prayed. “You will live and not die! You will declare the works of the Lord!”
BVOV : 17
