When the Impossible Takes Place

Fred Macey, a 17-year-old senior at Andrews Academy in Berrien Springs, Michigan, USA, was strong and athletic. On a brisk September morning he had just finished jogging when his sister Martha heard the door open, followed by a thud as Fred collapsed to the floor. She ran to find his crumpled body near the front door. Fred was breathing but unconscious. He was rushed to the hospital, where physicians worked feverishly to save him.

Fred, at 17, had had a stroke! It wasn’t just a minor issue; it was a massive stroke, followed by more strokes, each one weakening him more than the last, until he was put on a ventilator.

Fred’s carotid artery was blocked, cutting off blood flow to his brain. He couldn’t breathe on his own, speak, see, or even think. As his doctors worked, the family prayed, and soon others joined—his school, the Pioneer Memorial church family, and many more, far and wide. Lifting this young man up to God in prayer.

For two long weeks nothing changed, no improvement. Fred’s body was still there, but his life was gone. Finally the doctors approached his parents, Dorothy and Epifanio, with the words they had dreaded: “There’s no sign of brain activity. We’ll have to turn off the life support.” Clinically Fred was dead.

They asked if they could go down to the little chapel one more time, again pleading with God to save their son and brother.

Only the parents were allowed in the room as the tubes were removed. As the physician pulled out the endotracheal tube that had kept oxygen flowing to Fred’s lungs, Epi, Fred’s father, couldn’t stand still another second. With an impulse driven by a father’s love and the angels of heaven, he pushed past the physicians, technicians, and nurses working around his son’s bed.

Rushing to Fred’s now-lifeless body, Epi grabbed his son’s shoulders and, from his breaking heart, cried out, ‘Fred, are you going to die? Please let God prove His power!’

Rushing to Fred’s now-lifeless body, Epi grabbed his son’s shoulders and, from his breaking heart, cried out, “Fred, are you going to die? Please let God prove His power!”

And then the impossible happened: Fred opened his eyes! In wonder and amazement, all watched as Fred began to breathe on his own for the first time in three weeks! The Great Physician was in the room that day.

What rejoicing!

I asked his father what he would like most of all for his family. His reply was: “I want them to always believe in prayer and in the God of the impossible.”

Fred still had a long way to go, but he worked hard and was ready for graduation. He was determined to march with his classmates even though walking was still very difficult. He practiced by the hour.

At graduation the class decided to have Fred march last to give him all the time he needed. The packed gymnasium was stirred as Fred, limping but triumphant, made his way down the long aisle, marching in perfect time.

When the principal announced his name, the audience, filled with pent-up emotion, erupted into a standing ovation that lasted longer than anyone could remember.

But his story doesn’t end there. When Pastor Gary Burns introduced him at a teen prayer retreat, more than 900 teens in the Pioneer Memorial church gave God reverent and enthusiastic applause. Fred sang “Amazing Grace.” The great God—Elohim, the Creator and Life-giver—was present that night; He listens to our prayers. Thousands have had their faith strengthened through the living testimony of Fred Macey.

We may never fully understand why not all prayers are always heard in such miraculous ways. But we can rest assured that our prayers are very precious to God. He tells us in Revelation 5:8 that He actually stores our prayers in golden bowls in heaven. No prayer goes unnoticed.

“You need not go to the ends of the earth for wisdom, for God is near. It is not the capabilities you now possess or ever will have that will give you success. It is that which the Lord can do for you. . . . He longs to have you expect great things from Him. . . . Take the word of Christ as your assurance.”[*]

What a mighty and loving, prayer-answering God we serve.

[*] Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1900, 1941), p. 146.