Community has been transformed for me
since embarking on this whole world race deal. I don’t know if I
ever can settle for less having tasted the goodness of what community
is designed to be. It’s glorious. painful. And incomparable to
anything I have experienced before.
A week ago I was sitting in the middle
of the rain forest in Bolivia and asked the question to a teammate
about what it means for a guy to really fight for a girl. The term
is thrown around so much in conversations about relationships and I
was curious what that really looks like.
Fast forward now to three days ago when
my ear began pounding with pain. We just returned from the rain
forest where we had community shower time every evening in the nearby
river. Probably as a result of all the river water, my ear was
aching as it had never hurt before. I mean, it hurt. Throbbing pain
as if someone was stabbing the inside of my ear with a knife. I went
to the doctor and was given an antibiotic to take. After two days of
taking some prescribed medicine, there was no improvement whatsoever.
Last night I came home and my ear was
hurting the worst it had yet. My teammate Matt Snyder came up to me
and said he wanted to pray for it. Then Robby joined. And Matt
Peters. And so the three of them came around me, laid hands on my
ear, and begin praying for healing. After five minutes of it, they
stopped with no improvement. yet. I told them that as weird as it
sounded, that the Lord spoke they were going to fight for me on it.
It was instantly confirmed by Matt S. who said that every thirty
minutes for the rest of the night they were going to come around me
and pray for healing.
For the next thirty minutes I sat
outside by myself with tears falling from my eyes. I cried because
my ear hurt like crazy. And I cried because I didn’t understand why
it wasn’t getting better. I decided I would submit to the Lord and
His plan over this even if it meant using the pain to show me
something. And so in the midst of tears falling from my eyes I
praised Him for He is good. He is faithful. He is glorious. Yet
the throbbing remained.
7:00 pm. They came around me and again
prayed for healing. Robby prayed that the Lord’s finger would go
inside my ear, stop the throbbing pain and inflamation, and begin
healing it. I wonder if Jesus had been there in physical form, what
He would have done. I’m guessing it’s similar to what happened next.
Before I knew it, Robby’s finger was inside my ear and he was
praying for all the pain and heat to leave my ear and enter his
finger.
7:30. Still not much improvement.
Again the guys pulled me aside and prayed for me. They asked for
direction. Claimed freedom. Asked for wisdom and discernment. For
the Lord’s power to intervene. They were passionately, and with full
authority, claiming the Lord’s healing power over my ear.
8:00. The throbbing pain had stopped.
The pressure was still really intense though and it felt at times
like my ear drum was going to explode. More prayer happened.
8:30. Squad family game night time.
We were all in the middle of playing fun games together when Matt
stopped the squad and everyone began to intercede. The room was
filled with the noise of 26 people all speaking prayers of healing
over my ear at once. It was overwhelming beautiful to hear.
Squad game night was stopped twice more
on the half hour for everyone to pray for my healing. The guys were
consistent in stopping every thirty minutes throughout the night to
pray. They never forgot. Never got distracted. Never quit.
11:00 pm. The final prayer of the
night before bed. The pain was gone but the pressure remained. The
Lord’s healing was claimed again. By morning I would
be better we all prayed. The Lord had heard the persistent knocking
of His children. And we were all praying I was going to wake
up pain free and healed.
Right now it’s 6:00 pm on the following
day and It’s been over 14 hours since my last dose of pain medicine.
Not a single ounce of pain has hit my ear since I woke up this
morning. Healing came. Jesus healed my ear. And He healed it
through showing the glory of His name in the hands of His sons.
These three guys persistently
knocked on behalf of me all night long. They claimed healing over my
ear. They fought for me. That is what it means to fight for
each other in the body of Christ. My brothers fought for me and won
the battle for healing. And the most beautiful part of it?
To them, it was as it should be. This is what we do as the body of
Christ.
Now that is the Kingdom of
Heaven manifesting itself on earth.
