Church should be a
refuge for the hurting, not a museum of pain.
This statement isn’t meant for one church but rather a
general message for churches across America Africa and I am expecting supernatural
miracles and healings to happen before my eyes but then I think why do I have
to wait 20 days? Why can’t I see that now? What is holding me back from not
only seeing healing take place here but even in my own body?
I’m speaking for myself and it’s my own fault that for so
long I let tradition and the familiar to narrow my view of how powerful God
truly is.
I lived with severe back pain for years and by age 24 had
two back surgeries and the pain was still there. So I became a name on a prayer
request list. I placed my need on the shelf as an artifact in the museum of
pain. I looked at it, admired it, observed it and its severity, all the while
reliving it each day never once asking Daddy to truly come and take it from me.
I would rather have it on display then lay it down and be truly healed. And
after almost 10 years of pain, powerful medication, and surgeries it took Him
teaching me to let it go to truly be pain free. Each day I choose to pick it
back up and claim pain or continue to walk in the healing that was given to me
the day He was on the cross.
As my trip is getting closer, I’ve been preparing, packing,
buying, cleaning, etc, and somewhere along the way I hurt my right knee and as
the days went on the pain and swelling became more severe and it became a hindrance.
I couldn’t move around as good as before and immediately fear came up. My
thoughts were “How will I be able to walk around all day with a bad knee?” “How
will I handle being on the floor and getting up and down? I’ll have to take my brace!” All these
thoughts were bombarding me and now I’m a name on the prayer request list. He
healed me from a severe back issue and now my knee is messed up 20- something
days before I leave… this is going to hinder me!!?!!?
So that brings me to
this past Sunday while at church, Pastor Devon begins to talk about how he
messed up his hand and immediately began to pray for healing. He didn’t say he worried
over it for two weeks until it was really bad and then prayed, instead as soon
as it happened he spoke healing over it and what do you know? His hand was
instantly healed. It was right there in that moment that the light bulb came on
and my heart was so heavy because I was completely overlooking the power of Daddy
God, my healer. I was looking at circumstance and being led by what my body was saying, my knee
was crying out in pain so I was living in it. I was taking it upon myself and
already speaking that it was going to hinder me on this mission trip.
All the
while Daddy was waiting to be given just a minute to have his way, he was waiting
for me to shut up so he could show me how I should be living, what I should be
thinking, and how I should be transformed and renewed each day because I’ve
already been healed.
So in that moment my faith was growing, the door was open to
me to test God in his healing power and see if I could do that. If I could actually
be healed. So as Pastor Devon continued to preach I simply put my hand on my
knee and I sat there. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to speak
doubt or ramble about things I don’t understand I simply wanted him to have his
way and for once I was just going to be still and be quiet. As I sat there, it
felt like cold water was running down my
leg as though the fluid was being pushed out and at first I thought, “This is all
in my head it can’t be that easy. Don’t the elders have to come pray, I need to
fast and use anointing oil”. I’m going through all the scenarios because I’ve
seen it done to others but it never worked for me. But what I didn’t know what
it isn’t about the vessel it’s about
the source. After a few minutes, I
couldn’t feel the water ‘draining’ anymore so I went to remove my hand and I
heard Daddy God say “No”. I don’t
think it was that he needed more time, I think my heart needed more to time to
speak to my mind and let it sink in that I am healed and no longer will I speak
pain and carry it around. No longer will I be hindered. No longer will I let
what I feel determine what I know to be true. If I was going to be healed, I
was going to walk away from that moment never again saying my knee was hurting,
swollen, etc. It was about transforming my mind and my words to line up with
what HE says about me. I am whole and complete. Nothing missing and nothing
broken.
So here I am it's Tuesday morning and I am still healed. Yet
I was nervous about sharing because my thought was what if it comes back? Yet
again, I had to renew my mind to what He says. (it’s a constant battle my mind
is stubborn) So I’m learning yet another lesson because I know he wants me to
experience supernatural healings and many other things but I know He doesn’t
want me to be a sitting duck until then. It doesn’t take a trip to Africa to be healed. But we should take notes because
when a need arises in the community over there they don’t type it on a prayer
list they pray truly believing that if God says we are healed that’s it. They
have no other options. Medicines and doctors aren’t a option they only rely on
the source and that’s where we’ve gone wrong. We have too many options and
temporary fixes and we are missing the true source. That’s why many churches
have become museums of pain and even those who die are remembered as ones who
suffered for Jesus. They just had to wait to get to heaven to be pain free but
I think life should be more than that. I think he wants us to live more
abundantly.
So I challenge you as he has and continues to challenge me. When things
arise am I putting them on display and carrying them around as trophies or am I
laying it down that I may be transformed by his power?
It’s time we close up
those dusty museums and began transforming those around us. It’s time we stop underestimating
his power. He is greater than any other.
He is my healer and nothing is
impossible with Him as my source!
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