Today’s article is another installment in Brother P.’s column, “Lessons From the Nursing Home.”

One of the funniest situations that I have ever dealt with while working in a nursing home had to do with a lady who had broken her forearm. (No, she did not break her humerus!) She had fallen and broken her forearm while drunk, which is not usually a reason for a nursing home admission. However, her physician knew that she had a problem with alcohol and could end up further injuring herself if sent home. So, he casted her arm (wrist up to just above the elbow) and sent her to the nursing home.

After she was in our facility for about a week, she started to get “thirsty” and began coming up with all sorts of reasons why she needed to be discharged home. I tried to buy a little time by telling her that it would be good if she could just wait until she had her next appointment with her doctor (about a week away), and the doc may just cut off the cast and send her home.

I think that she may have heard something a little different than what I was saying because in the morning my coworker, Ruthie, entered this particular lady’s room and made an amazing discovery!

When the lady with the broken arm first saw Ruthie, she said, “Last night I was praying, and it must’ve been some sort of miracle…” At this point, she held up her broken arm and — you won’t believe this part! — the cast was gone!

Now, Ruthie does not particularly believe in miracles, so she started digging around the room and was able to locate the empty cast rolled up in some bedding.

This lady wanted to go home so badly (to quench her thirst) that she was willing to pry a cast off of her broken arm (probably re-breaking it due to the bend at the elbow), and then lie about it and say that it was miraculously healed.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I absolutely believe that God could’ve healed her arm, could’ve made that cast disappear, but maybe God had other plans for this lady’s stay in a nursing home.

I wonder … if it seems like God is not answering your prayer (right now), maybe He is performing another work in you. I would encourage you to hold on! Keep praying! And open your eyes to the fact that maybe God is working with you in the background.

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.