I Still Believe, Part 2

Matthew 17:14-20

When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and
knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has
seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the
water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

 “O
unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall
I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to
me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was
healed from that moment.

 Then
the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive
it out?”

 He
replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you
have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from
here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

 

Luke
17:5-6

The
apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

 He
replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to
this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

 

Referring
back to my previous blog, “I still Believe, do you?” I would like to tell you how God has continued to
increase my faith in His healing power!

 

Opportunity
#1: During our worship time last Sunday, as everyone else was singing, I was
praying very intensely and telling God (paraphrased) that I did believe and I wanted to have more
faith in His healing power! Wow, does God answer prayer.  Immediately after the service the pastor
said that there was a 13 yr old girl (Rosel) who had had her leg
amputated.  Of course, as the missionaries, they wanted us to pray over Rosel.  We went into a room
where she was and as I set down on the bed beside her, I was actually expecting
to see her leg grow back as my teammate John prayed for it to happen!  We were all obedient to pray although it didn’t grow back. However, my faith was
increased…

 

Opportunity
#3: (The same day…) As we were driving back from that ministry sight where I
didn’t pray for Gia, God gave me a chance to redeem myself a little bit.  All of the sudden the driver pulls
over, gets out, and says that there is a sick woman in the house that he pulled
over next to who he wanted us to see. 
We walk in and this 29 year old woman, Sally, is skin and bones.  She has been bed-ridden for 7 months.  We asked if we could pray over her and
she said yes.  Eryn asked if she
was a Christian and although she said yes, she didn’t really know what it
meant…so we shared with her and she accepted!  It was the plan to pray for Sally “Korean style” (where
everybody prays at the same time), but Eryn said I should pray alone at the end
(knowing that I’m having faith issues right now).  We prayed with the authority that we have in Christ and as I
prayed at the end I knew that the Holy Spirit was in that room…I could feel it’s
presence. Even still, there was no immediate healing.  After we had gotten back into the van and started riding
again Eryn looked over at me and said, “God just increased your faith, even if
you don’t feel it at this moment.” 
I believe that He did.

 

WOW! God knows what we need and how we need it to
happen!  Even though I still haven’t
seen any crazy healings before my very eyes, God is working and increasing my
faith in Him daily.  I know that
even though I haven’t seen those people immediately healed, that God has
perfect timing.  He also knows what
is best and sees the “panoramic view”. 
I trust that He can do what He says He can.

 

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”  James 4:8