Would You Rather?
Have you ever played that game? It’s a great conversation starter 🙂
~Would you rather go without the internet or a car for a month? (oh wait. That’s my life)
~Would you rather have to sit all day or stand all day?
~Would you rather be 4 foot 4 or 7 foot 7?
(Then there’s always those lose -lose choices like; would you rather sprinkle sand on every meal or perpetually walk around with gravel in your shoes. Haha)
How about this one: Would you rather be in disobedience or in error?
This past month there’s been a lot of talk about hearing the voice of God.
Have you ever wondered if a thought or impression or feeling is from God, or if it’s just your imagination or the devil talking to you?
I know I have.
The other day I was walking by my friend and I heard the words “go give her a high- five” cross my mind as she dropped us off at our house. I ignored it, but the thought came back to me several more times throughout the night, making me think it was probably from the Lord. My mind isn’t usually that persistent in bringing things like that up haha. The next time something like that happened I decided to act upon it. If it was the Lord, there was a reason for it. And if it wasn’t, what did I have to lose? Everyone loves high fives 🙂
I get thoughts and impressions like that all the time. You probably do too. But sometimes I hear or sense things and they’re so random that I wonder if it’s really God speaking. I usually err on the side of ignoring them because it’s “safer.” But this past month Gracie, our ministry contact, challenged us with this statement:
Children of God, would you rather be in error or in disobedience?
When it comes to hearing the voice of God, if it aligns with Scripture; she challenged us to speak it out. Act it out. It’s better to be wrong and “miss the boat” than to disobey God and miss an opportunity to love someone like He does.
On the day that Team Mighty Love went to the village we watched firsthand as our prayers and obedience released the physical healing Jesus bought on the cross! It happened in the second or third house we visited. Ramona, an abuela whose kids had all moved out, invited us all inside, brought plastic chairs for us to sit in and we spent about a half an hour visiting and talking in broken Spanish. As we were getting ready to leave we asked to pray for her and she said that she had pain from arthritis in her arm and leg. She raised her arm with difficulty, but as it neared a right angle I watched as she struggled and flinched in pain. We prayed and Alena declared physical healing for her body in Jesus name. I felt doubt rise up in the back of my mind as I wondered if God would heal her in that moment. Then I closed my eyes and saw Jesus lay his hands atop of ours as we prayed. After praying for her healing we asked if the pain had gone away and she said it was better but not gone.
I’ve been working on believing the Bible, and sometimes I know what God says about something, but I don’t trust Him enough to actually step out in faith and truly believe. For example, I know that God says I have authority to heal the sick (Luke 9:1-2; Matthew 10:1; Matthew 10:7-8)… and I believe Him… kind of…
A lot of times I think that I believe… but in reality (dun dun dun) I don’t really. Because the things I believe in, I put my confidence in and act upon. But so often with healing prayer, fear rises up and says, “What if it doesn’t happen? What will people think? What if it’s not God’s timing?” And suddenly fear swallows up my faith.
But this time I chose to believe God at His word. I took a chance, in the face of lingering pain after our prayer I said, “I believe that Jesus has healed you today and the pain is going to decrease more and more every minute of every day until it is gone.” Then I shared what I saw. In my head, the voice of fear bellowed, “DON’T GET HER HOPES UP! What if God doesn’t heal her and you just declared false hope. How cruel is that?!?!” But then the gospel of Jesus rang out amidst the clamor, “Get her hopes up! Get them sky high, because of the cross and the work I finished when I died and rose again! It’s not false hope. It’s truth!”
As I was saying this Ramona started to shake her foot a little bit. And then a little more until she was almost kicking and hopping on one leg. But I was watching her face. An instant before she had been indifferent, thankful for prayer, but without much expression. As she moved her once painful leg more and more I watched at her eyes lit up and disbelief turned to joy and praise. She raised up her arm again and again- the same arm that could barely make a right angle minutes before and she started to whisper hallelujah in an awestruck voice. We didn’t need the translator to understand what had happened. Jesus had touched this woman was we interceded for her healing and had set her free from the pain, healing her body and healing her heart in the process. That day when we left her house there was such a light in her eyes and a joy that shone all around her.
It was amazing! The more I act upon those inclinations, the more I see the hand of God move in power, and the more I want to obey. I would rather be wrong, look stupid or have to be corrected if it means that I am a better conduit of God’s Presence and kingdom on the earth!
So what is your answer? What would you rather…?
