I walked into Hope and Gloria, the church's thrift shop/cafe/ salon, for my morning shift, fully expecting an absolutely ordinary day- and I suppose it would have been for someone who has far more faith in God's ability to do the impossible than I generally do. For me though, it was nothing short of extraordinarily mind blowing.
A couple of hours into my shift, Kat and I were tagging clothes in the back room with a couple of others, including a boy who comes in on Wednesdays through a work experience program for people who have disabilities. Stephen is in a wheel chair and that morning he had no mobility in his back and was in a lot of pain. When one of the employees came back, she asked Kat and I if we could pray healing over his back.
It was kind of one of those awkward moments where I didn't feel like I could say no, because I'm a missionary and all, but I wanted to, because praying for healing terrifies me.
What if it didn't work? What if nothing happened and I didn't know what to say to defend God? What if I didn't have enough faith for this? What if I'm not good enough for God to use in such amazing ways? What if…what if…what if?
So, we agreed and walked over to Stephen, feigning as much confidence as we could pull off in a moment of such discomfort. I put one hand on his back and reached for Kat's hand with the other, asking if she wanted me to do it, or if she would. Apparently she could see the desperation in my eyes and said she would. So, I closed my eyes, too scared to watch, and prayed along with her, but really not expecting much.
When she was done, I didn't even wait to ask if his back felt any better- I just walked right on back to my task and started working again. But, a few minutes later, as I was asking Kat if she'd prayed for healing before, Stephen called us back over.
I stared in disbelief as he twisted back and forth in his chair with the hugest grin on his face. He had full range of motion again in his back and was in absolutely no pain. After making him swear up and down that he really couldn't move before we prayed and watching him twist back and forth in that moment, I started tearing up. I ran to go tell Saige and anyone who would listen.
I probably told that story twenty times that day, and I'm sure some people got sick of hearing it, but I didn't care. My God had done something impossible right in front of my eyes!
The funny part is, even though I had experienced God healing me of a serious stomach bug in Peru a few years before, I still doubted God's ability to heal. I was still doubting when I saw him moving! I must have asked him 5 times to tell me that his pain was gone.
That's what is so incredible to me, though- God doesn't need our faith. He actually doesn't need us at all- not to do the healing and not to defend Him if He has other plans. He can do it all on His own. How cool is it then, that he invites us as His children to watch and even be a part of Him doing the impossible?
