When you hear the word healing, what comes to mind? This word may bring amazing testimonies to mind or it may bring painful or disappointing memories. My perspective on healing today in my 40s is vastly different than it was in my childhood.

I grew up Catholic in the Bible Belt of the United States. I don’t remember the priest in my church or the nuns in my school ever talking about healing in our lives or God being a Healer. I don’t remember any of the adults around me talking about healing either. I do remember there being lots of conversations about people being sick or dying. There were no real answers or directions attached to those conversations.

Now, I was never a sickly child, so healing for myself was never at the forefront of my thoughts. My grandmother, who I lived with, became sick beginning in my junior high years through high school. She saw numerous doctors and was taking numerous medications. That was the way it was. She passed away during my freshman year of college. During those same years, several family members also passed away.

I never thought anything more than that this was the circle of life. People are born. They live. Then they die. I never knew that people being healed was an option. But I do now. I’ve witnessed it!

With this being a month where we tend to focus on giving thanks, I thought it was fitting to share some of the things that make my heart overflow with gratitude! I am beyond grateful that Jesus is our Great Physician who came to forgive sinners and heal the sick (see Mark 2). I am beyond grateful for the fact that we are healed by His stripes. Jesus was beaten and bruised for our healing. His shed blood paid for our complete healing . . . body, soul, and spirit.

As I’ve gotten older, my body has changed. Things that I never dealt with have all of a sudden become concerns. One of those concerns has been my knees. I’ve never been athletic, but I do love to work out and dance. So, it was a devastating blow in 2018 when I was diagnosed with patella tendonitis in both of my knees. It impacted my life in almost every area. I couldn’t run or work out the way I used to, or kneel to pray at church. It hurt to walk up the stairs to my townhouse and to simply stand up after being seated. But, God!

This past May when I reconnected with my friend Angela, that all changed. She was ministering at an event and ended by praying for people’s needs. I had been prayed for over the years with small glimpses of hope. So, I asked for prayer for something else, but she ended up praying for another woman’s knees over the microphone. I dialed in and told God I received that same healing for myself. And a miracle happened. My knees immediately felt better, but the next day my knees felt amazing! They’ve felt amazing ever since! Five years was a long time to be in pain, but I know God was with me every step of the way. And now I’m so grateful for these six months of healing! 

I can’t think of healing and gratitude without thinking about Chans. A couple of summers ago, my friends experienced something that no one ever wants to experience. Alida and Chans and their teenagers Rylee and Carter were driving to church on a Sunday morning. Chans was in the passenger seat. One minute he was talking and the next minute — nothing. He passed out and then his heart stopped. But, God! On their way to the hospital, the kids got word to the youth pastor and he got word to the whole church. In the middle of the service, we stopped everything and prayed for God to bring life back to Chans’s body. The kids still wanted to come to church, so their grandparents picked them up from the hospital and brought them. Again, we stopped everything we were doing, surrounded them, and prayed for life and strength and God’s resurrection power. The Lord heard and He answered. He restored life to Chans’ body! The doctors had no explanation as to why His heart stopped or why it started again. He stayed in the hospital overnight and went home the next day.

That was the greatest miracle I’ve ever witnessed.

You might be thinking that your loved one didn’t get the miracle you were expecting or praying for. These testimonies are simply to build your faith as to what the Lord can do. My miracle was progressive over the years. Chans’ was in a moment. But, I am still waiting on other miracles along with some of my closest people. I’ve also lost loved ones over the years — but they are fully healed in the presence of the Father. I grieved the deep loss with the confident hope that I will see them again one day.

I’m sure the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5 had all but given up the little hope she had. But, when she heard Jesus was nearby, she tried one more time to find her healing. She persisted and pushed past the crowd just to touch the hem of His garment. She knew the Scriptures in Malachi that said there was healing in His wings, which was the hem of His garment. She believed His Word over the words of every doctor she had seen. She believed He was who He said He was and that He could do what He said He could do. When God moves, He does it wholly. Jesus also honored the woman’s faith and restored her back to her community after years of being isolated and rejected.

Oh that we would believe that today! Oh that we would believe that Jesus’s blood speaks a better Word! Healing is coming. Sometimes it doesn’t come in the way we expected or in the timing we planned on. But know that it’s coming.

Our God loves us. Our God is faithful. Our God is our Healer.

If you’ve experienced a miracle healing, I’d love to hear about it! If you’re still waiting on one, I’d love to pray for you!

 

Listen to today’s devotion on the player below or wherever you stream podcasts!

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