From Kidney Failure to Victory

I believe we all hit a point in our lives when we look around and ask ourselves what we really believe in, and if we believe in it because it's what we're told to, or because something inside us tells us that it's the truth despite what all others around us say.  I had one of those experiences a couple weeks ago while I was in the hospital with "Acute Renal Failure"... medical jargon for "your kidneys just stopped working for some reason"... it's a lot shorter their way.  Anyway, I was in the hospital for five days, with the nurses waking me every four hours for vitals, and every twelve to draw blood, and they still had no idea why my kidneys had failed.  It was truly an experience out of that Footsteps story you see.  When I was awake, I was in pain and when I was in my drug-induced sleep I was having nightmares.  All the while, I was asking myself where God was through all of this, where was his peace that goes beyond all understanding?  I felt afraid and alone.  At some point a still soft voice inside me asked if my faith in God was dependent on how I felt, or if I was willing to believe in Him despite my circumstances.  I chose to believe.  I can thankfully say that my kidneys are healed!  I would even dare say they were miraculously healed, because the doctors still don't know what caused the failure, or why they got better.  I've been given a second chance, and I'm going to do my best to be all that God has called me to be!