God's Promise is that He Will Show Up

Chet recalls, “The doctor comes in to me and he says, ‘You need to go on a ventilator.’ He said, ‘If you don't go on a ventilator, you're gonna die.’” In August, 2021, Chet Chaffin and his wife, Renae, were having a great time on their 2,000 mile cross country retirement trip - horseback riding, going to the beach, and visiting family and friends. Then they reached Oregon. Renae remembers, “Chet was shaking so bad that he was just shivering and cold and miserable. He was having a hard time breathing and coughing.”

The Chaffin’s cut their trip short and went home. By the time they arrived Chet’s health had worsened. Chet shares, “And I was trying to get my air to my lungs to expand. And it's just like they wouldn't expand. I couldn't get any air in. Oh, it is terrifying.”

Two days later, Chet was admitted to the Clermont Mercy Hospital ICU with COVID pneumonia. Renae says, “And the doctor said to him, ‘Chet, you have two choices. You go on the ventilator or you're gonna die.’ And the doctor left. And he said, ‘Renea, I am scared.’ And I said, ‘I'm scared too.’” Chet says, “It seems like every story that you hear of people being on the ventilator, they don't come off the ventilator. They wind up dying. And I didn't want to die.”

Because of COVID protocols, Renae went home and asked everyone to join her in praying for her husband. Renae shares, “And I sent out over 200 emails and asked for prayer for my husband. I looked up scripture on healing. And the one that stuck in my mind was, 'I will send My word and My word will heal you of all your diseases.' And I would repeat that daily.”

Chet and Renae’s pastor, Daniel Lawson, and church elder, Mike Meyer, came to Chet’s room to pray. Chet recalls, “Before he came into the room to do this, I looked outside the door and I saw the Lord standing outside my door. Not as I see a man, but as I see the love of God, the aura of God, the brightness of His glory, His love is what I saw. At that point, I said, live or die, I belong to the Lord.”

Pastor Daniel Lawson shares, “I told Chet, I said, ‘We're going to anoint your head.’ And Chet said, ‘Anoint my hands and my feet too.’ And we prayed and we rebuked the sickness, the disease, the infirmity in the name of Jesus Christ. I knew Chet was fine no matter what anybody said.”

Renae called everyday so Chet could hear her voice. After 5 days, COVID protocols were lifted and Renae was allowed to visit her husband who was now in a medically induced coma. She took advantage of the 15 minutes she was given. Renae shares, “I started praying. I started rubbing his feet, I started rubbing his hands. I touched his face. I wanted him to know that I was there, because that touch is so important.”

Over the coming weeks Chet endured multiple complications including a hole in his lung and internal bleeding. For two weeks the staff tried several times to wean him from the ventilator but every time they tried Chet would struggle to breathe. They had to sedate him with additional meds to keep him calm. Renae says, “I was scared because I knew that he wasn't getting oxygen. And I said, 'well, I'm worried about brain damage.' And I came in the living room and I shouted. I said, ‘God, I know You're gonna bring him home.’ And he said, in this calm voice, and this peace went over me. And he said, ‘then why are you doubting Me?’ And I said, ’I won't doubt you.’”

The next day, a nurse called. They found Chet’s ventilator tube had been pulled out and he was breathing on his own. As Chet was still in a medically induced coma, no one could explain how it happened. Finally, they brought Chet out of sedation successfully. Tests showed Chet had no brain damage.

Chet recalls, “I know that I woke up because God let me wake up because God healed me and took care of me in that hospital room.” Renae shares, “I was just saying, 'thank you God for that, because You answered another prayer.'”

On October 20th after 27 days in the hospital, Chet was released and sent to a physical therapy facility. There he would have to renew his cognitive abilities and regain his strength and mobility in his arms and legs. He even had to re-learn how to feed himself. They expected his stay to last up to two months. It lasted nine days. Chet says, “God began to heal me. From that point, I began to be able to stand up. I began to strengthen myself. I began to walk around the room.”

At his follow up with his pulmonologist, Chet remembers the doctor’s response. Chet remembers, “He said, ‘You know, this is just amazing. This is just amazing.’ And he said, ‘Chet, you are a miracle.’ And I'm like, ‘amen. I am.’”

Pastor Daniel Lawson shares, “I see Chet as this mighty tool, this wonderful testimony to the truth of what God can do and that God is still alive.”

Chet has defied all of the doctor’s odds and even has regained his long-term memory. He and his family know he is a miracle because of the healing power of Jesus through prayer.

Renae says, “I believe with all my heart that Chet lived because of faithfulness, because of prayer, and because God wants to use him to bring people to Christ.”

Chet says, “There's no limit to what God can't do or can do. He will come in and He will heal. That's God's promise.”