Joyful Glee

Hospital ministry isn't one of my favorite things to do, but this last Thursday it was incredible: I began talking with this older woman and she was there because her arthritis was getting pretty bad. Here hands and feet were fairly crumpled together. So I started talking about how Jesus healed people when He was on Earth and how He has given us authority over sickness. Then I was prompted to begin talking about heaven and how there is no sickness in heaven and no pain and how wonderful a place that will be when we get there. God then reminded me about the Lord's Prayer and how Jesus prayed for God's will in heaven to be on Earth. And so we began to pray and I physically straightened out her hand in mine and began to pray that God's will would be here on Earth. After praying and thanking God for the healing He was bringing, she started moving her hand around and wiggling her feet and then started "dancing" in bed. It was a glorious sight. I told her that I knew that she was going to walk out of there the next day and was so happy for her. I turned to leave and she grabbed me by my arm and said, "Touch here," motioning with her hand to her thighs and knees. I places my hands on both legs and said something like, "It is by God's authority that you are healed and only by Him. It is by His power and He has touched you." I had no idea where those words came from, but they were said. It was beyond a glorious event. Her face glowed and excitement and thankfulness poured out of her. I will never forget it.

When she grabbed my arm and asked me to touch her legs, I felt like Paul. Not to compare myself to him, because I have nowhere near the same amount of faith that he did. But he would just touch people and they were healed because of the power of God in him. It was as if she knew that there was an authority in me that was greater than sickness and disease. The strange thing though, is that I didn't feel any different. I was just obedient to what God was asking me at the moment. It wasn't until after I left her bed that I was in awe that God had chosen me to be the instrument of His touch. I felt like the 72 disciples did when they were excitedly talking to Jesus after they had just returned from preaching and were sharing how even the demons would obey them. And Jesus agrees with them in excitement and then reminds them that they should rejoice even more that their names are written in the book of life (Luke10:1-24).

Our salvation is so much more important than healing and such a greater reason to rejoice and yet many times I take it for granted. hmmmm

Labels: Happiness, Memories, Spiritual