“Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.” Isaiah 25:1 (NIV)
“There are supply chain problems with the mattress you ordered. We don’t know when it will come in. But we can upgrade you to a better mattress for the original price. We have one in stock and can deliver it tomorrow.”
When the government stimulus check arrived during the pandemic, I had decided to use the money to buy a much needed mattress. I had gone to the store, tried out several mattresses, and found one that was comfortable and in my price range. Now, I was hearing that the mattress I had chosen was not available. I went to the store and tried out the mattress they were offering. It was equally comfortable as the first one. And the sticker showed that the price was significantly higher than what I had paid. I agreed to the offer and a new mattress was delivered the next day.
A year and a half passed. One day in November I experienced what doctors call a sudden onset of hip arthritis symptoms. For most people, symptoms of arthritis develop gradually. Although arthritis had unknowingly been in my joints for a while, for me the symptoms occurred literally overnight. One day I had zero pain and walked an average of 8000 steps per day at a brisk pace. The next day I experienced hip pain and could take only short, much slower steps. I also experienced difficulty getting up from low surfaces (since I am tall, most of my furniture was low for me). Using seat cushions to elevate the surfaces was helpful. Getting dressed became more difficult on the chair I normally used. One day I decided to sit on the edge of the bed when dressing. My new mattress made the bed high, and getting dressed was much easier. I was thankful for the solution of dressing on the edge of the bed.
Several days after I started dressing on the edge of the bed, I started thinking about the original mattress I had selected. The height of that mattress was very low. Since standing up from a low surface was easy for me at the time, the the height of the mattress was not a consideration. It was comfortable, and that was all that mattered. Today, though, getting in and out of bed from a low mattress would be a major problem. An amazing truth occurred to me: God gave me a mattress! Isaiah 25:1 talks about how the Lord has “done wonderful things, things planned long ago.” When I went mattress shopping I did not know that I would develop arthritis in a few years, but My Heavenly Father did. The God who provides for the needs of His children stopped the delivery of a low mattress and orchestrated a set of circumstances that resulted in me owning a high mattress. I can now get in and out of bed with ease.
Today I am learning how to manage arthritis. Daily exercises and avoiding triggers are helpful. Thankfully, my arthritis symptoms are much less severe than those of many other people. Perhaps it will always be that way. Perhaps the severity of the arthritis will progress. It is impossible to know that now. But I do know that God will be with me every step of the way. He already has plans for how He will meet my future needs. And if I ever doubt that truth, I only need to look at my bed and remember the day that God gave me a mattress!
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