One minute everything was fine. The next, my left eye was black in the lower third. Knowing that could not be good, I called my eye doctor. I thought I ought to check it out before I flew to Idaho two days later for a speaking engagement. My doctor sent me to a retina specialist. Immediately. That doctor used terms like “emergency surgery,” “not going to wait,” “you are not going to Idaho,” and “Do you want to see out of that eye?”

So I had emergency surgery for a detached retina. Here is what I learned.

1. Life changes in an instant. Your retina detaches. A car wreck. A heart attack. A job loss. Natural disaster. Sin is discovered. Relationships crumble. Life is hard, and this world is tough.

2. Get help. I don't do well asking for help, but I had to. Doctors and nurses. Elders who showed up to pray. But I also had lots of help I didn't even have to ask for. Family, of course. Friends offering to feed cattle. Prayers. Food. You need family and friends during a crisis—family by birth and family by new birth.  

3. Trust. The possibility of losing your sight in one eye is scary. I trusted my doctors. But I trusted God more. I decided that whatever happened, God has been so good to me that I would always love and trust him, no matter what. There is a certain peace and trust that comes with that decision.

4. God heals. It would have been His right not to restore my sight. And actually, as I write this, I really don't know the result of the surgery. But I asked, and He answered. Just like He has done countless times before.

5. Recover. The recovery process is harder than the surgery. Don't move. Keep your head down. But when you need to heal, you do the hard things and trust God is working, even if you can't see it. Or can't yet see. Just like recovery from spiritual trauma.

By now you know where I am going. You need Jesus. For the hard times—and there will be hard times. And in the good times. You need your church family.  God hears. God answers. God heals.

I wish this hadn't happened, but it has been a good reminder of what really matters.

And what really matters is Jesus.