Glory & Grit : Season 2, Episode 8 - When the Answer Still Requires Recovery
Show Notes:
Summary
The surgery finally happened. After months of pain and waiting, Stephanie expected those words to feel like the end of the ordeal. Instead, the answer opened into another chapter: recovery.
In this solo episode of Glory & Grit, Stephanie tells the winding story of a surgery scheduled for July 21, an unexpected cancellation after a heart-monitor disclosure, additional appointments and testing, and the eventual August 28 procedure. The story carries frustration, ugly crying, a surprising stress-test question, and evidence that God was present in details Stephanie could not control.
But the central question begins after the surgery. Stephanie had imagined returning quickly to work, podcasting, and regular responsibilities. When weakness and nausea forced her to cancel a recording, she realized that receiving an answer and living through its aftermath were two different experiences.
Drawing from the ten men with leprosy in Luke 17, Stephanie notices that they were cleansed “as they went.” Their story is not a formula promising physical healing or a particular timetable. It offers a picture of Christ already at work while they were still on the way. Philippians 1:6 adds confidence that God continues the good work He begins without requiring instant human completion.
This episode is an invitation to release the picture of how an answer was supposed to arrive, tell the truth about what still needs care, and honor the chapter you are actually living.
Key Topics
• Why “the surgery is over” did not mean the entire ordeal was over
The finish-line expectations we quietly attach to answered prayers
Why gratitude and difficulty can exist in the same chapter
What Luke 17 says about being cleansed “as they went”
How recovery can include care, emotion, trust, new rhythms, help, and changed
expectations
The three-question Name the Next Chapter practice
Takeaways
• Receiving an answer and living through what follows can be two different experiences.
• The presence of a process does not automatically mean the absence of God’s
faithfulness.
• You can thank God for what changed and still ask Him for help with what comes next.
• Recovery is not another performance you owe God.
• God is not embarrassed by the fact that His work in you is still in progress.
Continue the Conversation
Visit the Companion Page to Name the Next Chapter: recognize what has changed, tell the truth about what still needs care, and choose one faithful action for the phase you are actually in.
Transcript:
Stephanie (00:05)
The surgery finally happened. Yes! I spent weeks waiting to be able to say that. Actually, I spent months waiting to say that sentence. But when it was finally true, I wasn't suddenly on the other side of everything, right? The answer had come. Recovery had just begun.
So what do you do when the thing that you pray for finally happens, but the answer begins another process instead of ending the struggle?
Hi, friend. Welcome back to Glory and Grit, where faith meets real life. I'm your host, Stephanie, and I'm so glad that you're here with me today. This season, we've been talking about rebuilding identity, waiting, healing, endurance, surrender, and then learning how to recognize God's faithfulness in real life. Today we're going to talk about what happens after an answer comes when life doesn't instantly feel finished or easier or more settled.
So let's get started.
So, as you know, or if you haven't been listening, this is your first time listening, welcome. If you haven't known that I was due to have surgery on July 21st for my ulnar nerve damage that happened while I was on mission in Ghana.
And everything had happened and the appointment had been scheduled. the day before I still had not heard from the pre op team. So I called in to check in, you know, if what NPO things I need to be aware of and all those things. And so she was asking a bunch of questions and happened to mention if I have any heart problems. And I said, no, but I am wearing a heart monitor for the last I was wearing it rather for last couple weeks. And she's like, okay well that might be a problem. I'm like no it just it fell off. Probably not even going to be a reading on it. I haven't had any heart problems. It was just that I had some palpitations, which is heart right?
Anyway. And blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. The surgery was scheduled the next day. That morning the doctor's office called and said that the anesthesiologist had canceled the surgery because he wanted to see what the heart monitor reading was.
Now, mind you, when the surgery was booked, I did not have a heart monitor. I went to a cardiologist after that schedule was set. Again, just as a precaution, per my new doctor. so that's why I know that this was a big issue because the technician who put my heart monitor on said that it'll be off long before the surgery. Okay cool.
so they called and said that the anesthesiologist canceled the appointment. And at this point I'm crying, I'm angry, I'm disappointed, I'm just beside myself, right? Because my arm is killing me. I can't sleep. I can't rest, I can't work properly, and I just want the pain to be over, right? So we go through a bunch of things. And just so you know,
Once an anesthesiologist cancels a surgery, there is nothing that anyone else can do. you have to get him what he wants. So I was crying and she's like, There's nothing we could do and you can call the pre op nurse back and maybe see if they can explain to him blah blah blah blah blah blah. Which I did. I called and left this hysterical teary just boo-hoo and ugly crying message. And yeah, they didn't call back.
So now what's amazing about that is my appointment to see the cardiologist was a month away. So now you get a bit of an understanding why I'm so hysterical at the fact that I have to wait another month when I've already been in pain and wait waiting and dealing with this for a long time.
So the cardiologist's office calls within a week or so of that disappointment and say, hey your heart paused for three seconds and we're concerned. We want to know if you can come in early. This my friend is how you know that God is all up in the details of your life.
We need you to come in early. I'm thinking, yes, thank you Heavenly Father, for taking care of this. And I explained to her also that the, you know, the thing kept falling off, water got in it, it fell off in the shower every day, no matter how much I taped it, and you know, it wasn't I didn't I lost a little jelly that contacts to my skin and you know, all the things that had happened. And she said, Well, I feel a little better. And you know, my response was
I feel better when you feel better. So we made the appointment. I went in. I'm thinking, yes, I can call back and have my surgery. No. I went in. The doctor says, okay, everything looks cool, but we still want to put you on a stress test. Are you freaking kidding me? So a week goes by. I get the stress test. I go in for the stress test. What's her first question?
What size bra do you wear? What? What size bra do you wear? I tell her what size bra I wear. And she's like, mm mm, no, you gotta do this in two installments.
And we saw that on the form, but I thought she meant super endowed. I'm well endowed, but I'm not super endowed. She says no, well endowed is included in statement part of the letter. So now I gotta I did the first part, wait a week, went back for the second part. Now I have to wait for the reading. By the way, if you ever go in for a stress test and you get offered the medicine, the shot, or the treadmill?
Trust me, my friend. Take the treadmill. That's the story for another day. Let's move on. So we get the letter in the mail. Everything's okay. Blah blah blah blah. we stopped by the doctor's office. And my husband ran in and said, Hey, give this letter to whoever needs to have it so we can rebook this surgery.
So lo and behold, I go from a surgery date of July 21 to August 28th, which means I'm still in pain, I'm still going numb, I'm still getting the fingerpricks, I'm still being awakened throughout the night in serious pain, and I'm still taking these pain pills.
So August 28th, I do have the surgery. Now, here's the thing.
In my mind I thought that when I was able to say the surgery is over, that everything was over, that I would just go back to my regular life the way that it was and that things would be great, right? We would pick up when we left off. And you know, I had my arm was wrapped, I had stitches or stitches in my hand and my wrist and my arm. And that first couple of days I was sitting there working on the podcast stuff and I all of a sudden just felt horrible, nauseated, dizzy, kind of lightheaded, very weak, almost faint like. And I don't know, maybe I overdid it. I don't know. But I just really felt horrible. Blessedly it went away. But it was a while before it did.
I didn't feel that bad again, but I still felt kinda weak and stuff. And so I cancelled a recording that I really was interested in doing.
I just wasn't ready. you know, the drugs would kick in and you know, I'd go back to doing the things that I needed to do that day. but it just didn't happen that way.
That answer to my prayer was real, was very real. but it hadn't made me instantly available to go back to regular life as I knew it, right?
Receiving the answer and then living through the aftermath are two very different experiences. And I don't think emotionally I had prepped for that because that never crossed my mind, right? So I'd been so focused on getting the surgery that I had I hadn't spent much time imagining the faith that it might take to recover.
And I don't think the surgery is the only place where we do this, right? We build up this big finish line around the answers to our prayers. And then we feel confused when the story keeps going, right?
I mean, examples would be like you get a job, a new job that you've been praying for. But what you didn't think about on the other side of the door is you have to learn that job. And maybe they had different software that they used than your previous companies did. Maybe they were providing a new series of something, whatever it was. So you had you have some learning to do and which means you have to take some time to rebuild your confidence, right?
What happens if you move? You you may have been praying for the move, but on the other side of the door, what you didn't think about is you now have to learn new routines, you have to build new routines, and you have to find new groups to feel where you belong or belonging in this new neighborhood, this new community, this new city.
When we get on the other side of the door, here's an assumption that we might be quietly making. Are you ready for it?
If this were truly God's answer, it would already feel easy.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Listen, my friend.
Ease is not the only evidence of an answer. Right?
Sometimes we recognize the answer, but we still underestimate the adjustment that it requires.
The presence of a process doesn't automatically mean the absence of God's faithfulness. Okay?
people might hesitate to admit that the answer chapter is still hard. Why is that? Because we don't want to sound ungrateful for our prayers for you to answer. We remember how badly we wanted that door to be opened. And other people expect that we would be.
Relieved, productive, happy, just
Or back to our normal life, right? some of us might judge ourselves for not feeling the way that we imagined that we would feel. Gratitude doesn't require dishonesty. You can thank God for what changed and still ask him for help with what comes next. You can.
I was grateful for that surgery. I was grateful that it finally happened.
I was also not ready to do what I planned to do three days later.
Both things were true at the same time.
If we go back to Luke 17, verses 11 through 19. Now, this set of scriptures tell us about 10 men who stood off at a distance waiting to ask Jesus for mercy, right? And they were doing that because they had leprosy.
So they wanted to ask Jesus to help them. Jesus told them to show themselves to the priest, right? I'm gonna read you the exact text. And when he saw them.
He said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass that as they went they were cleansed.
Let's look at that. The text places the cleansing as they went, right? So they didn't just stand there and wait for Jesus to heal them and perform this grand miracle. They followed Jesus' instructions to them, which was move.
Right? So their change wasn't this visible big leprosy, ta-da, no leprosy kind of thing, right? They weren't required to manufacture a miracle.
Their part was simply to respond and to keep walking, moving, right?
now there are times when we receive answers in the moment And then there are times
we learn to recognize as we are walking through the moment that began with those, right?
Okay, let's be clear. This story isn't a promise that everybody will be healed or that the recovery will happen on a schedule if we just have faith enough. Okay? It's not that. It's a reminder, this story, that Christ was already at work.
When they were still on the way.
Now when I had my surgery
I wanted to get back to life and responsibilities and my podcast as soon as possible.
The surgery was done, it was over. So now it was time for me to get back to work, right?
But when we
Rush.
When we rush through our recovery or we get that answer to the prayer and then we rush through it or we rush around it. sometimes that can become a way of demanding that the answer to our prayers prove itself to us immediately, right? Recovery might require you to do a lot of things, accepting help, canceling something, sleeping.
repeating a small practice or just taking the time, right? A faithful pace isn't identical for every person or for every kind of recovery. mic thumper
Sometimes the answer is the beginning of the next faithful process.
Did you hear me? The next. Okay. An answered prayer can open doors without carrying you instantly to the other side of the door.
So what is it that recovery might be asking of you? Well, receive the appropriate medical care and respect your physical restrictions. Okay? Allow an emotion to be named instead of demanding instant closure.
Rebuild trust through evidence and time rather than one dramatic conversation. Learn a new rhythm after a move, a job, a calling, life transition, right?
Ask for practical help while strength returns.
And I love this one. Release that picture of how you thought the answer would arrive. Mm-hmm.
Recovery isn't one more performance you owe God.
It's a part of life that you're learning to live with him.
Sometime recoveries can stall or change your direction or just be incomplete.
go back to Luke 17. Let's look further down in verses 15 through 19. And it talks about one man out of the 10 saw that he was healed. And then he turned back.
Glorified God and then thanked Jesus. One out of ten men with leprosy turned around and thanked him.
He noticed what had happened to him. And then he returned to the source of the mercy that he was given.
His gratitude was specific. It responded to what Christ had done for him. The story doesn't say that giving thanks erased every consequence of the life he had before that moment. Okay? Gratitude is not pretending the road was easy.
It's recognizing who met you on it.
You can also turn to Philippians chapter one verse six. I'll read you that one. Being confident of this very thing, he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
So Paul's confidence is in God continuing his work. It's not in our instant completion of something, right?
We can apply this to the inner work that we're doing of becoming and trusting and healing and following Christ, right? This verse isn't about a guarantee for one external result that we want.
You can relax, okay? This this unfinished part is not a surprise to God. Really is not. You can relax.
God isn't embarrassed by the fact that his work in you is still in progress. Okay?
Now, I want to give you an invitation, so work with me for a second. I want you to choose one answered prayer, an opened door, a completed transition, or a long-awaited change. I'll give you a few seconds to think about it.
Got it? Awesome. Now I want you to ask yourself three questions.
Number one.
What has actually changed?
Number two What still needs care?
And number three, what is one faithful action for this phase?
Do not demand a finished life from an answer prayer, okay?
Name what God has done, name what still needs care, and Then choose one action that honors the chapter that you're actually in. The full "Name the Next Chapter" practice will be waiting for you in this episode's companion page.
My friend, you might have been wondering whether you missed the answer because life still feels complicated. Maybe the door opened, but now you have to learn how to live on the other side of it.
Maybe the treatment began, but the healing still asks for patience. Maybe the decision came, but courage is still required every moment.
Tell the truth about what remains. Then receive the help this phase requires. And don't rush yourself simply to prove that your prayer was answered.
God's faithfulness is not disproved by the work that remains after the answer.
The answer can be real even when recovery is still in progress. So thank him. Thank him for what has changed and then ask for help with what comes next. And keep walking.
Please remember there is a companion page again for this episode at GloryandGritPodcast.com
I'm your host, Stephanie, and thank you so much for joining me today. And I would love if you would share this episode with someone you think could benefit.
And I'm truly appreciative of all your support for glory and grit. Until next time, my friend, keep looking for glory and keep walking with grit.
Bye now.
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