Enabled: Overcoming Paralytic Polio

Does the God of the Bible, who created the universe and the billions of people who inhabit the earth, really care about, love, and personally guide each individual who comes to Him by faith in Jesus Christ?

The biblical answer is “yes,” as is powerfully illustrated in this true story of a young man and woman, separately aspiring to careers in science, whose plans were shattered when paralytic polio struck hard, leaving both with serious physical disabilities. Beyond any reasonable hope of getting an education on their own, both turned to the Lord in faith and then watched God make the impossible possible. Remarkably, He not only provided a way for both to attend college but also to meet and marry, to manage a home, to raise three children, to earn advanced degrees, and to be blessed with long and meaningful careers. Even more significantly, God also revealed His unwavering love and faithfulness and His plans to give them hope and an eternal future (Jeremiah 29:11).

Elizabeth Hillstrom, PhD and Professor Emeritus, taught undergraduate Psychology full time at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois for twenty-seven years, starting in 1976. She has written various articles and authored a second book, Testing the Spirits, which was published by Intervarsity Press in 1995. She currently has eight grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and…counting.