Experiencing extreme pain and mental fog 29 out of 30 days a month is a terrible way to live. I suffered from endometriosis, a disorder in which tissue that normally lines the uterus also grows outside the uterus. Cyclical bleeding and inflammation from these endometrial implants cause scar tissue and adhesions. Having endured this painful condition from ages 17–34, in 1985 I decided to have surgery.

Getting rid of the endometriosis first involved a D&C, a surgical procedure in which an instrument is used to scrape the uterine lining. Then a month later, I had a complete hysterectomy. After the surgery, I went through mind-bending menopause caused by the removal of my ovaries. Doctors tried various estrogen products, but I couldn’t tolerate any of them.

A few years later, the endometrial implants returned—this time on my intestines! Although the surgeon had scraped my abdominal cavity of implants, evidently there were some left on my intestines—or maybe they had migrated to that location since the surgery. My excruciating condition was deemed inoperable due to the possibility of peritonitis, a life-threatening inflammation and infection of the tissue that lines the inner wall of the abdomen, which can lead to sepsis, multiple organ failure, and death.

One Sunday, many years later, although I was in the throes of my usual 6-days-per-month agony since the surgery, I wanted—for reasons I can’t recall now—to visit a small, run-down church across town. When I put my hand on the rusty church doorknob, I felt a surge of anticipation, like God was up to something!

The young pastor’s message was about the devil beating up Christians. At the end of the service, he asked anyone who felt that Satan was attacking them to come down front for prayer. I wasn’t planning to go to the altar because I saw my problem as purely physical, but the person sitting beside me nudged me into the aisle. So, standing at the altar, looking down at the floor, I felt a hand on my shoulder. A lady beside me began praying earnestly for me to be healed! I didn’t know anyone at this church, and they didn’t know me. After the prayer time was over, I looked to my right and saw a very tiny older lady standing beside me. I thanked her for her prayer but really didn’t expect anything to happen. An hour later, at home, standing in front of my kitchen sink, I realized the pain was gone. I was completely astonished!

After the miracle occurred, I thought maybe this lady was an angel, but it turned out that she worked at Walmart! In the weeks that followed, I discovered that her personal life was far from a cake walk. She was in the throes of horrific family problems, but God used her to be the agent of my miraculous healing!

I thank and praise God for His mercy. He can use any of us as agents of His will at any time. I’m sure glad this dear elderly lady got out of bed—despite her own problems—and came to church that morning. She was in the right place at the right time, and God used her in a mighty way! A few weeks later, I felt a tiny twinge of discomfort and asked her about it. She said it was just the devil and that I had been healed. She was absolutely right. The small symptom quickly disappeared and my residual endometriosis never returned to trouble me again. This reminds me of Acts 10:38, “...God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil.”

I don’t know why God, in His sovereignty, sometimes heals instantaneously, when at other times, He just says that His grace is sufficient. 2 Corinthians 12:8–10 (KJV) —“For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” Even if we are not healed, we can still trust in God’s goodness and almighty plan, knowing that there will be no more pain or suffering in Heaven!

Dominie Bush and her husband Don live in St. Augustine, Florida. She is a traveling piano teacher, a keyboardist at Community Bible Church, and a music instructor at Ark Baptist College. She also edits Christian books and magazine articles. A book that helped her heal emotionally from her ordeal was Taste of Tears, Touch of God by Ann Kiemel Anderson, who also had experienced the pain and problems of infertility.