.png)
God Works in the Impossible
The Story of Defector and my Life
By C.E. Stone
(Space pirate voice) Caution: Defector spoilers ahead! 😉
June 19th, 2021. I’d just run the craziest, most wonderful marathon of my life. My first novel, Starganauts, was a go. I’ve written elsewhere how I never dreamed publishing this book would ever happen. Today, I want to talk about God’s power to accomplish the impossible in our lives and how that fits with the themes of my newest book, Defector.
The first two decades of my life were pretty blessed. I had a loving, supportive family and we never wanted for life’s basics. That changed when I married my husband. Like Chrysta, I married a man I thought I knew, only to find out he’d worn a mask most of his life. Crazily, he didn’t even know himself! The resulting tumultuous years were difficult emotionally, physically, and spiritually. My faith was put to the test by one hardship after another, and this peaked in 2019. My husband had thankfully been healing emotionally, but he began to ail physically.
I’ve described that dark road in “Using my Pain to Write,” so I won’t rehash it here. Despite the continuous trials of the last 8 years, I’ve witnessed MANY blessings. God has provided anonymous cash gifts and help when we needed it most. He’s answered prayers about decisions, opening doors, and changing hearts. Like the Starganauts’ service to Vexador, it’s been the worst and best of times. I’ve grown more spiritually these past 8 years than I did my entire life before.
How does this relate to God’s power in the impossible? Well, my life is living proof of this. When I set out to publish Starganauts, I didn’t have the means to. We’d just come out of 2019. I was working full-time, we were barely makings ends meet, and I knew I hated marketing. When God told me to self-publish Starganauts, I thought it was stark-raving crazy. Yet I obeyed Him. I embarked on the first step, editing, trusting He would make a way for me to self-publish.
​
Within 6 months, all of my obstacles had been removed. I had the money, time, and marketing help to self-publish!
My life and seeing God work this way formed some of the basis for Mike and Chrysta in Defector. They face a seemingly-impossible situation. Chrysta is unable to have a child. She’s dreamed of being a mom her entire life, as I dreamed of being a published author. Then things go in a bad direction, as her painful secret is splashed across the news. I had wanted to traditionally publish ALL my life, but when I tried pursuing it, I simply got closed doors and disappointments. God answers Chrysta, however, as He answered me…in a most unexpected way.
Granted, Chrysta doesn’t step out in faith. It’s Mike’s faith in the darkest corner of the galaxy—in the depths of a Cybrium Lair—that turns their lives around. God accomplishes the impossible with their infertility and He uses Mike to accomplish another miracle: the end of the Cybrium. Even when our circumstances feel insurmountable, God is able to achieve great good. It might come at a steep cost, as Mike and Chrysta’s blessing does. But God truly does work everything together for our benefit if we love Him (Rom. 8:28).
Another example of this in Defector (and my own life) is Nancy Cooper’s healing. God meets Nancy in a powerful way after she’s injured in a horrific crash. I won’t give all the details, but she’s lucky to maintain the use of her legs. She’s in constant pain, feeling frustrated and useless sitting around while the others go off on a mission. Kaity reminds her that Jesus is able to do anything we ask of Him.
​
What follows is an absolutely beautiful scene inspired by the Holy Spirit. It moves ME to tears every time I read it, for Nancy is miraculously healed by Jesus. As background, I wrote this scene in 2017 with the very first draft of Defector. Little could I know that Jesus would show up in my very own life in a powerful way.
Oh, not as dramatically as He does in my story. Defector is fiction, after all. However, Jesus healed me personally from a mystery ailment, and He’s been healing me over a period of time from Type 2 Diabetes.
​
Two years ago, my health was a mess. It’s hard enough having a husband with severe fibromyalgia, but I had recovered from
Covid and things just weren’t the same. I went to my doctor and got a bunch of tests, but my follow-up appointment was delayed. In the interim, I was having unexplained women’ s issues. I went into my gynecologist and they diagnosed me with PCOS. I was stunned, but made diet changes accordingly. A month later, I got another shocker. My doctor told me bluntly that I had Type 2 Diabetes.
I was devastated. I’d experienced no symptoms outside of fatigue and lethargy. Type 2 Diabetes didn’t run in my family and I’d had a normal A1c two years earlier. I fell into a depression, even as I felt angry at God. How could He let this happen to me? At that point, my life had been three years of constant hardship without any breaks. I’d gone through so much already…and now this. I sympathized with Job. I questioned the Lord in anger. I grieved the loss of my health and wondered “why?”
I was studying Matthew at the time, and we came across the passage where Jesus heals many people, including a centurion’s servant. I was struck for the first time at the mind-blowing nature of this centurion’s faith. Here was this Gentile who believed Jesus could help his servant long-distance. I also realized that this miracle happened because the centurion had faith Jesus would heal His servant. Faith came before healing. I closed my eyes, prayed for healing, and believed that our Lord would heal me.
My women’s issues cleared up in a matter of weeks! I’d already scheduled with another gynecologist to get a second opinion, and I received wonderful news. There were no signs of PCOS! I had been experiencing symptoms for a year and then suddenly…they were gone! PCOS is a lifelong, irreversible disease, so I knew it was Jesus answering my prayers. I cried happy tears, thankful that God gave me my health back.
As for Type 2 Diabetes? I prayed for healing there, too, and hit a low-carb diet and my exercise bike hard. God didn’t magically heal me. It’s been a slow process, but my A1C fell below 6.0 the beginning of this year. I’m in Diabetic remission, which is never a guarantee to reach. Thus, I see the Lord’s hand healing me of this ailment as well…albeit slowly. His ways aren’t ours, after all. But I’ve learned to accept that. I’m no longer angry, but grateful.
My health is fantastic now. I’m praising God that I only have the normal aches and pains of aging, lol, and for His hand in healing me. Incidentally, I vowed if He healed me to tell others about it. You, dear reader, get to be part of me fulfilling this vow! How cool is that?
​
​If you’ve read this far, thanks. I hope you’ve been amazed at what God can do when we trust and believe in Him. It’s not me. I’m no greater or holier than the next person. Through pain, I’ve learned to yield my life to God. Just like Mike, whose own painful experiences lead to a lifetime of service. It’s my hope and prayer that my stories, and life, point you to Jesus. That by knowing the amazing ways God has worked despite my hardships, you’ll be encouraged in your own life and walk.
As Paul says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”…even those which seem impossible. Trust Him with your impossibilities, and you might just be surprised by what He accomplishes.
