Our team was supposed to be in Costa Rica this month but, was re-routed to Playa Las Lajas, Panama to partner with ICJesusMinistries.
Our team and our hosts, Danny and Heather, were supposed to leave for a youth event on the Comarca Friday at 4pm. Due to unforseen events, in which, Danny had to help two different missionaries essentially “put out fires” with his native biligual ability, we did not end up leaving until about 5:20pm. The Comarca is an indigenous reservation where the couple and some other Costa Rican missionaries do a lot of work. Along the way, we stopped at a girl’s home on the Comarca to pick up some local young women so they could attend the event. Before the girls even got in the truck, Danny told us, “Hey, let’s go lay hands on somebody.”
As we approached the church on the property, we learned that the pastor’s son has had severe chest pain and shortness of breath for two days. We found him lying on a faded mattress propped up between two pews in the naturally lit church. The son was young, maybe fourteen or fifteen. He had gone to the clinic that day but all they had done was given him a nebulizer treatment a few hours before and sent him home. He reported no change in his pain level or in his ability to breathe. His heart rate was high.
We prayed for him, asking the Lord for healing, and nothing happened.
I took a more thorough history. We prayed again and he began to feel better. A few of the girls from my team at this point had backed up and were praying on their own. One of my teammates was praying in circles around us just like the Israelites around the wall of Jericho.
We prayed again and ALL, I repeat, ALL of his pain was gone.
He said he still has some shortness of breath so we prayed for that and then I got to coach him through some breathing techniques. He began breathing completely normally.
The son then mentioned, “I want to pray for my knees.” So Danny said, “Oh okay, what happened to them?” But he responded, “Oh. I meant, I want to pray ON my knees.”
Danny smiled and said he would pray with him too. So, we helped the son stand up and he walked to the stage area. He knelt down onto his knees and began praying silently, thanking the Lord for healing him.
It was the most humble expression of gratitude I have ever seen.
One by one, those around him followed suit. And there we knelt, in a dimly lit church, not concerned about time or anything else. We just sat there, on our knees, only focused on physically stopping to thank the Lord for the gift He had just given. I couldn’t help but cry at the beautiful, mature act of faith the young man portrayed.
What a merciful reminder of how we should organize our priorities.
How often do we (do I) throw up a quick thanks when I see a healing or get an answer to prayer? Or even, how quick was I to begin praying for or assessing his knee pain (aka the perceived next problem) when I thought he was in pain, without first acknowledging and expressing gratitude for what God had just done?
God deserves the Glory, our gratitude, and our humble recognition that we can’t do anything without Him.
