Delpin jerked awake in the darkness, coughing, retching and clawing at his neck. A searing pain seemed to be blocking his throat, making it difficult to breathe. Stumbling out onto the covered porch of the hut, Delpin found his wife dozing as she rocked their son in a rattan hammock.

“Help . . . me!” he croaked. “Throat . . . hurts!”

“Here, drink this,” she said groggily, reaching for a jug of water.

“Not . . . helping,” Delpin said in a rasping voice after drinking half the jug.

“What about the bottle of eucalyptus oil?” his wife replied, beginning to wake up. “I’ll rub some on your throat.”

But try what they might, the stabbing pain in Delpin’s throat only seemed to grow worse.

If I can’t fix this soon, I’m not going to be able to breathe, Delpin thought. I won’t make it to the hospital. No one is here who can help me. But, wait a minute. Whether I have medicine or not, I have something that is far more powerful and effective. “Father,” he began to pray, bowing with his head to the floor, “I place myself in Your hands. Whatever is Your will for me, let it be.”

And with that he lay down, still retching and struggling to breathe, but choosing to be at peace anyway.

Suddenly, in the dark, he felt fingers massaging his throat ever so gently. Reflexively, he grabbed at the mysterious intruder, but his hands closed around nothing but air. Then, understanding dawning on him, he lay down again quietly. Soon he felt the mysterious fingers gently massaging his throat again, but this time he relaxed and waited. Almost immediately, the pain vanished, and he could breathe easily.

“Thank You, Lord!” Delpin whispered into the darkness. “Thank You for teaching me again that peace lies in surrender to You.”

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