The Spark That Started It All
I will never forget the crippling look of despair she wore as she walked down the aisle towards the pulpit. Years of defeat and pain marked her hobbling steps as she weightily leaned on her cane. The entire room was silent as she made her long journey towards the pastor — the anticipation in the room was tangible. Before she came forward the pastor of this church in Central Texas had just made an announcement that God wanted to heal a serious hip injury, and he invited the person who that resonated with to come forward.
When the woman finally found herself at the front of the church’s meeting room, she had to be helped on to the platform. It was overwhelmingly evident that she did not have the physical strength or stamina to climb the two raised steps before her. The pastor asked her what her name was and for her to share about why she came forward. She then shared that when she was 16 years old she was hit by a drunk driver. The accident had caused irreparable damage to her right hip and had also caused the growth plate in her right leg to close, causing that leg to be several inches shorter than the other.Over 40 years later this had caused her tremendous amounts of pain in her entire body, and she had always walked with a cane.
The pastor boldly said that God wanted to heal her radically in that very moment. A team of people gathered around her and began to pray. Some began to loudly pray in tongues, and as they finished a word of interpretation came. At this point, I had been saved for less than a year, and needless to say, this was a very interesting experience. The team spoke to her spine, as if it were a sentient being, and commanded it to align and straighten. I found this to be quite strange as she did not even mention her back in her story. They continued to faithfully speak words of healing over various parts of her skeletal system. Little did I know that God was about to show off in a wild way.
The team helped the woman stand straight up, and it was overwhelmingly clear that one leg was shorter than the other as one foot was not on the ground. Even though the woman mentioned it, her slouched demeanor masked the gravity of her condition until this point. The pastor then commanded her leg to grow. I had yet to even consider that God could do such a thing, or that He even would. To my surprise, I saw the leg slowly lengthen until both feet were firmly planted on the ground. There was a very real sense of power in the room as if a wave of electricity was released.
The woman was in tears at this point. She reached for her cane as an indication that she was ready to return to her seat. The pastor graciously stopped her and asked her this question,
“I believe God just healed you. Would you take a step of faith and try walking without your cane?”
The woman was deeply emotional and continued to explain how she cannot walk without her cane. The pastor did not dismiss her reasoning but instead championed her for trying to walk without it. He called for two men to stand on either side of her and hold her arms to give her support in case she could not walk. What happened next will forever burn in my heart.
The woman took one step with the support of the men, and upon realizing that God had indeed healed her, she leaped off of the platform and began to run to the back of the church. She was ecstatically shouting and crying for joy — her reaction incited an eruption of cheering, clapping, and celebration in the entire church. God’s radical love was put on display by restoring and undoing decades worth of damage and destruction to a body.
This took place on Sunday, February 17th, 2013, and I have never been the same since. Seeing God move in a raw, tangible, and powerful way transformed me. I saw the love of God invade a seemingly hopeless situation and everything changed. I began to think about what it would look like if God moved through me like that on a regular basis. What if everywhere I went people were introduced to their Creator and Healer? This was the day that I decided I never wanted to let go of His hand — I wanted to walk with Him everywhere and see Him change my surroundings.
The past four and a half years have been a wonderful journey of exploring God as Healer. I want to invite you on the same journey of seeing God make the impossible possible through you. If this story has sparked your heart, as it did mine, please consider sharing this and taking a step of faith today by praying for someone to be healed.
