Hi there,

Thanks for the many encouraging return mails. When I first started to share, I told myself that I will be obedient to what the Holy Spirit wants me to share not realizing that it might develop into a weekly affair. This is now the third sharing.

When I first read Romans 8:28 that ".... All things work for good to those who love the Lord" many years ago, I had no idea what is in store for me and for my life.
Some of you may have heard of my testimony but not many have heard of my back problems.
Back in 1991 around the Hari Raya Haji holidays (I think it was some time in April), I came home one night after a Money Brokers get-together (I was a dealer at Bank of Tokyo then) and while washing up to prepare for bed, I had a sharp pain down my spine near the tail-bone. That was at around 11:00 PM. At first I thought I was tired and just needed some rest and I should be fine in the morning. Soon I was in dreamland.

At around 2:30 AM, I had to wake up to go to the toilet. While I was standing over the toilet seat, I had a blackout ( I think I was out for about 10 seconds ). Next thing I knew I was on the floor of the toilet and I was calling for my wife. By now she woke up with all the noise and she tried to help me up by propping me on the toilet seat cover. I told her to contact my home-cell member who stayed a couple of blocks from where we were (in Tampines New Town) and asked if he could rush over to take me to the hospital (Eastshore Hospital) for treatment.

Ten minutes later, he came rushing into the house, collect my car keys and helped me into the lift and then into the car. At the hospital, the doctor on duty came and gave me an injection of painkillers, gave me an MC and announced that I had a slipped disc.
The next morning, I went to the company doctors to get them to give me a proper examination. I had a couple of x-rays and that afternoon, I was referred to SGH Orthopedics Department for further treatment. I was placed on a six-week physiotherapy session of traction and heat-treatment.

Also, the SGH surgeon who was treating me was also the registrar of the department and being a very experienced doctor, his decisions were rarely challenged including me (of course). After hearing my side of the problem, he decided that I should not be subjected to strenuous physical exercises (six months of MC from the army). This was to take me out of the next in-camp training as well as the physical fitness test. Six months elapsed and soon I had to have a review by him again. Another six months of MC was given.
In the meantime, little did I realize that the Lord turned my sufferings into a time of deliverance? You see, when I was on that one year of MC, I was taken out of all heavy duty training and placed on office duties during my in-camp training. I was from the combat engineers and "heavy" training is the norm. And that year, 1992, I was scheduled to follow a company of soldiers to Thailand to act as an exercise controller (one of those officers who follow the troops and give them their grades).

The whole exercise, according to friends who went along, went smoothly until the phase at the end - R&R.

The whole company was bundled into 9 coaches and was travelling to the Thai-Myanmar border to view the bridge over the River Kwai (a very famous bridge built by allied POWs during WW2). The road to the bridge, being a cross-country road, was very dusty (dry season and no rain for some time) and the Thai army driver of the last coach, in a hurry to overtake and not be at the end of the convoy, stepped on the accelerator and managed to overtake two buses when all of a sudden, he realized that there was a big log-truck coming towards him in the opposite direction. He swerved to the left and instead of guiding the bus into line behind the sixth bus, the coach went out of control and plunged down the side into the ravine. It was a steep drop (almost 200m I was told) and the top of the coach, i.e. whatever was above the handrails of the seats, was cut away by the trees as the bus plunged. Passengers were thrown out of the bus as it fell. Many were hurt with back injuries and one corporal died. He did not duck his head in time and it was severed.

You see, if I had not had those MC from the surgeon, I would have been on that particular exercise and also I would have been on that particular bus (that bus ferried all the soldiers from the company and battalion HQ and I was supposed to be grouped under that category). By God's grace, I am still alive and able to share with you this personal story.
When I was first told that I had a slipped disc, I was very sad and kept telling myself.... This cannot be true. I was perfectly healthy and hardly absent from work. In six years of employment at one job, I only had two days of medical leave. I kept late nights trading and making money for the bank. I kept arguing/ reasoning with the Lord that it was just not fair - everything was "I" - all works.

But when I heard the account of what happened in Thailand, my first reaction was a deep sense of joy and thankfulness, not for what happened but that I now understood that it was the Lord who delivered me. Of course I was sad to hear of the accident.

My friends, when you are faced with things happening in your life for which you did not expect or for which you do not understand, just commit your situation to the Lord and lean had on His grace for you. You will find that it is always sufficient and never short. It might be painful at times but He will give you the strength to endure. I experienced all of that during my time of back pain. And yes, some months later, I went back to the surgeon and he did a thorough examination of my back and pronounced that I was suffering from a degenerating backbone. Of course he did not operate on me to correct the disc, as he deemed it not necessary. And yes, I was eventually downgraded in the army and only had to serve the remaining years of In-Camp Training as an officer participating in boardroom map planning exercises and now I am completely out of the army.

Of course, occasionally I do get some backaches but nothing as painful as that sharp pinching of the nerves on that night in 1991. I know the Lord had healed me and each time I feel the aches coming, I just get up, walk around for a while, stretch myself and after about ten minutes, continue to work. I have been constantly reminded of His goodness and His love for me.

May you find His grace sufficient for you and remember all things work for good to those who love Him. Note all things and not just the small things.

Best regards,
Andrew L W Lee

Dated : 17 July 2001