Episode Transcript
SPEAKER 1
It is all too often said that there are no miracles performed these days. Well, I'd like to challenge this idea with my story of the miracle of the incompatible liver. Welcome to Miracles in the 21st Century. I'm Caleb Christian. Today I'd like to share with you an awesome story which I hope will give you hope, Faith and strength in your time of trouble, your trial, as I recount to you my trial. In 2018 I was diagnosed with liver failure. My liver had reached end of life and was failing me badly. My body was reacting to this, of course, and I began to suffer all the complications that come with a failed liver. The pain was indescribable. The procedures incredibly unpleasant. And there was no way out. There is no way out. It's a terminal condition unless you are given a transplant liver. So invariably I end up on a transplant waiting list. I'm advised generally it takes about eight months on average to reach a stage where they can actually transplant you. Because in fact, you don't live that long with a failed liver, or for that matter, any other failed organ. The hope is to keep you going long enough until a compatible liver or organ is found for you. It's not an easy process. Organs are not openly sold and bought on the marketplace. They're a very precious gift given by very generous very kind-hearted, very civil-minded people who decide that were they to pass taking with them their organs to the grave serves no purpose, but in fact can offer life and hope to so many others. And so as a participant in this chain of delivery of an organ to a recipient, you must wait your turn. There are others ahead of you and there are others behind you. But the wait is long, the road is long, the road is rocky, difficult. And without a faith that is strong in your Lord, it is very hard to cope. I had that faith. I trusted that my God loved me, cared for me, that my God would see me through, whether to a liver transplant or whether to my sleep until He returns. One way or the other, I was safe in my Lord and I didn't really worry that much. The only thing was the pain. I wished the pain would go away. I suffered with this pain and the procedures for months and months. The eight-month average arrived and disappeared. The year mark arrived and disappeared. The second year mark arrived and disappeared and all the while my body is degrading My body is breaking down, my organs collectively are failing, and I'm suffering all the consequences that that brings with it. Nevertheless, hope was there, and I waited my time, I waited my turn. Two years have gone past, two and a half years have gone past. Many a time I faced life and death encounters where I could have passed at any moment. but my Lord was gracious to me and saved me through those. And I waited, and I waited, and I waited, and it seemed interminable. It got to a point where I couldn't take it much more. My Lord knew that I was done, I was worn out. I had done as much as I can in the human sense. But nevertheless, I knew one thing: I trusted in Him, and nothing truly bad would befall me. nothing of any eternal merit at least. Three years in, I receive a call one night, the call that we all wait for and all hope for. And that call said, Caleb, get yourself into the hospital. We've got to live it for you. It's a call I thought I'd never receive. It didn't seem real for a while. It didn't seem like this was true, yet it was. And you never prepared for this. You wait for it, you hope for it, you pray for it. But to get the actual call is a really big deal. Anyway, it finally settled in my mind, yes, they've got a liver for you. So I packed a few things I thought I might need, where in fact, didn't need anything. Nevertheless, I packed up a few things, called a cab, got in the cab, took me to the hospital. They greeted me at the reception there. A nurse took me through to the surgical area. There was no room for formalities or otherwise. This is a situation where time is of the essence. It's critical. A liver out of body doesn't survive very long. And so you've really, from the moment that the donation is made, got about six hours to get it into the recipient or it's too late. It's done with. And so time was critical. And therefore they took me straight into the surgical department. They did what was necessary to prepare me for surgery. They placed me on the gurney, wheeled me in. Doctors were starting to hook me up to anesthetics and other instruments and people milling about. It was noisy, it was crowded, it was a little frightening, but nevertheless, that was what I was hoping for would happen. One day I'd get my shot and here I am. I'm on my back, I've got my arms outstretched, I've got things stuck in me, things are beeping and bells are going and doctors are gowning up and all the rest of it. And suddenly they begin to get me ready to go to sleep. And a surgeon says, Whoa, stop, stop everything right now. He was the head surgeon. And in his due diligence, They went back, reviewed a few more things and ordered a few more tests and they came back bad. This was not a liver they could transplant into me. Had they transplanted that liver into me, I would have died. And so the doctor stopped it right there and then. Overwhelmed by an incredible sense of defeat and failure and disappointment. in one sense, but on the other hand, knowing that my God had stepped in and saved my life one more time, he stopped it right at the eleventh hour. No going further. And so I was taken back out to recovery and gotten ready to go home the next morning, which I did. The days, the weeks, The months roll by, still nothing. I'm getting tired now, really tired, physically tired. My body's showing that it's starting to give up. But my Lord said, Not yet. And one day again I get the call. Caleb, come in. We've got a liver for you. Surprised, bewildered, happy, excited. Not sure exactly what to think. I got myself into the hospital, same routine. They pick me up, take me through, prep me for surgery. And as I was to find out later, they tell me that the surgery, which by and large is routine, I mean this is something they do often. These folk are absolute specialists in their game. They know exactly what to do. They've done hundreds of these transplants. tell me that anything and everything that could possibly have gone wrong did. It really did. And as they told me, they literally lost ten years of their life trying to save me. That was just a complete and utter disaster, a fiasco of monumental order. They could not believe. It just couldn't happen this way. Old man devil wasn't going to let me go. He wanted me in the dirt. He wanted me buried six feet down. He did his best, but my Lord said, no, not yet. And so they wheeled me out of that surgery, liver in place, kind of working, kind of not really. My kidneys have shut down. I'm on dialysis. I'm in an induced coma. I'm in a very poor state. Well, surgery is over. I'm in now. in the ICU being looked after, and the liver fails, things go wrong, the complications are such that the actual liver they put in, which was indeed a perfect match for me, failed. They have to take it out because it's now dead. What do they do? They call my family and they tell them, We just don't carry spare livers, as it is, he waited four years for this one. We don't have any spares. What do we do? It is kinder if you just switch off the life support and let him go. And my family said, Absolutely not. Do everything you can in your power to save him. What can they do? Nevertheless, they found a liver, an incompatible liver, one that by rights I should not even be considered to receive. And the logic being, well, this man is dead anyway. How much more harm Can we do? And so this incompatible liver found for me was somehow medically trained, manipulated with or otherwise some advancement in the sciences not yet fully applied, but here's an instance where they could do it safely. We don't experiment on people, but this man is dead regardless. At least we give him a shot. and they did. And I stand before you today to declare that when God's hand is involved, all things are possible. And God took that which was unfit, made it fit, took that which was incompatible, made it compatible. And I stand before you talking with you and I urge you, regardless how difficult the trial is that you're going through, whether it be health, whether it be finance, whether it be relationship, family, friends, work, whatever it is, remember one thing: there is a living God who created you, who loves you so much He came and died on your behalf, that He may offer you freely life eternal. Reach out to Him. He's real. He'll support you. He'll strengthen you. And He will make the seemingly impossible at least in human eyes, very, very possible. And this is my hope and my prayer for you, that you will lean on the Lord. He is gracious and kind. He's just waiting for you to talk with him. And as it is, he is working in your life, even though you may not perceive it. He is working in your life. He is working in your circumstances. And he will do what he needs to do for you. Reach out to him. And I wish you well and I wish you good health and blessing from God to each of you.
