But God

By: Gary Florence

On August 3, 2022, when I arrived at work, there was a message from my wife, Robin. She was crying and said, “I think I’m having a stroke. I called my sister, and she’s on her way.” My workplace is thirty miles from our home. She was taken by ambulance to our local ER where she also works. So the drivers knew her, and her coworkers knew she was coming.

When I got there, I was met by her nurse and my sister-in-law, Wendy. The nurse said Robin was having a CT acan and that they believed she was having a brain bleed, and a helicopter was on its way. When Robin got back to the ER room, she was in a lot of pain. A few moments later, she let out a blood-curdling yell and fell into a coma. Her nurse ran past me and yelled, “Respiratory stat Room 7!” The announcement was made over the intercom, so now her co-workers knew this was Robin's room, and they were getting very concerned.

Seven or eight people came rushing in and started to converge on Robin. I was pushed back into a corner, and all I could think to do was outstretch my hand toward her and let the Holy Spirit lead me in prayer. We found out later that when the ER doctor saw her scans, he said, “This is bad. This is very bad.”

The helicopter arrived, and she was flown to another hospital sixty-two miles away. While driving there, I received a phone call that said, “We are in a fatal situation and are doing everything we can to keep your wife alive on the OR table.” I still had about a forty-five minute drive. Something (or should I say someone–Holy Spirit) rose up on the inside of me, and I felt this authority come over me. Inside I said, “No, no” out loud. I spoke, “In the name of Jesus I command the Spirit of Death to leave the OR now.” I once again let the Holy Spirit lead me into how I ought to pray.

When arriving, the receptionist met us and said, “You have the best of the best working on your wife.” God knows the beginning to the end and the end to the beginning. He was dotting all the I’s and crossing all the T’s weeks, months even years knowing that August 3, 2022 was coming. When the surgeon was in his mother’s womb, God was weaving the tapestry of his life, putting the giftings and callings to be a surgeon within him, knowing that one day His daughter would be suspended between death and life, and this man would have to be called upon. Through prayer and the grace of God, she survived.

The surgeon said they go by a severity chart of one to five with five being the most severe. He said your wife was at the top of a five. He also said when someone is at a five, one-third will die before they get to the hospital, one-third will die on the OR table, and of the one-third who do survive, one-third of those will leave the hospital permanently disabled.

When I walked into her room after surgery, she was lying there on life support. There were so many IVs sticking out of her. They had shaven her head right up the middle and placed a plastic tube in it and was draining blood into a bag. I took one look at her, turned toward the wall, and began to sob. I thought that is not my wife to whom, just a few hours ago, I said goodbye, love you, see you tonight.

The next day, one of the team members came in and pointed to Robin and said, “That lady should not be lying there. It was that bad. It truly is a miracle.” She spent the next forty-two days in the hospital, twenty-three of them in ICU on and off life support in and out of comas.

At my job, they were so good to me and allowed me to be off so I could be with the love of my life. I drove every day (one hour and thirty minutes each way) so I could hold her hand and be there for her. I did not sit at her bedside begging, pleading, making deals with God. I sat as a son co-laboring, partnering with my Father, calling those things that be not as if they were. I spoke life, healing, abundance, acceleration, etc. day after day. I watched with my own eyes my wife go from death to life. I saw miracle after miracle take place in her body. I saw “but God” moments, sudden God moments taking place throughout her journey.

While in the ICU she would have severe spasms in the blood vessels of her brain and they would have to do an emergency procedure called an angiogram. I got a call one night at 9:20 and they said we need to do this procedure now. The next day, I went in, and the doctor who did it stood over her, moving her right arm all around. When he left, the nurse came up to me and said, “I am sorry to inform you, but your wife’s right side has been compromised, and as bad as it is, she will never regain full strength or mobility.” I said, “Ma’am I believe in the power of prayer.” She told me that she is a Christian and also believes in prayer. So I told her to get on one side of Robin and I will get on the other side and let’s pray about it.

That night as I pulled into the driveway of our home, I heard as close to the audible voice of God I have ever heard. I heard such a strong resounding word in my Spirit “Who’s word are you going to believe, man’s word or My word?” I began to weep sitting in the car and I yelled, “I choose to believe your word.” The next day I was in her room and this same Dr. came in and asked me how I thought my wife was looking. I said a lot better than twenty-four hours ago, and he said I do too. No sooner did he say that than Robin threw her right hand over her head, and he said “Okay, now she is just showing off.”

She now has full motion, range, and strength. She is not compromised in any way, is fully healthy, and has recovered remarkably.

On November 7th, she went back to work part-time and even drove herself. On December 1st, she returned full-time. I am so proud of my wife. She did not belly ache, “Woe is me. Why did God allow this to happen?” Her faith grew and became more resolved. She’s not only my wife and companion, but she is my best friend, and I am honored to be her husband.

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About the Author

This is the testimony of Gary Florence. Gary lives with his wife Robin, and they wanted to share their story with those who need "but God” moments in their own lives.