It took a week in the middle of nowhere with 300+ strangers for me to learn that miracles REALLY DO HAPPEN!! God showed me A TON over my week at camp about who He is, who He is NOT, what He does and how He does it. I literally don’t have enough time to talk about every single awesome thing that happened supernaturally at camp so I’ll just write about 3 of my favorite miracles!
RICK GOT HEALED!
This is kind of a long story, but I’m going to try and make it short(er)!
Rick, a guy with poor vision, asked for healing prayer for his eyes. And this was right after our teacher and preacher for the week, Ron Walburn, had just finished teaching us about healing prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit. So, Ron asks us all to lift our hands, call upon the Spirit and pray for Rick. Ron asked if there were any significant emotional issues that occurred around the time Rick’s vision diminished; Rick admitted that yes, his parents’ marriage began to fall apart a couple years before he had to get glasses. And Rick’s vision was extremely near-sighted, so much so that he could not read the clock on the back wall of the room we were in.
So, we’re praying for Rick and all of the sudden I see the words “Dad” and “Betrayal” in my mind’s eye. And somehow, I intuitively know it’s the Holy Spirit. And I’m like “ummm… what?! I’m not special or holy or anything…why am I thinking this?! Surely you don’t want ME to say anything!” But the words wouldn’t go away and I felt a nudge in my heart, telling me to say something and before I could even think I just blurted out “YOU NEED TO FORGIVE YOUR DAD!”
And just like that, Rick begins to weep, and I mean a deep weep that has clearly been repressed for a long time. Subsequently, it’s revealed that his Dad really hurt him during his parent’s divorce and he had held unforgiveness and resentment and anger in his heart towards his dad for many years. He forgave his dad, right then and there, and repented for his unforgiveness. AWESOME, RIGHT!? Well, check this out: after all of that, Ron asks Rick if his eyes feel any better or if his vision has improved even a little bit. And my friends, Rick looks at that clock on the back wall of the room and says, “It’s 10:32.” And I swivel around in my chair to check the clock and guess what? It was 10:32. Rick could now see the clock that had 10 minutes prior been a total blur!
MINISTERING PRAYER!
We learned how to call upon the Holy Spirit and allow ourselves to be used by the Spirit to speak and prophesy over others. While practicing this, I was paired with my squadmate Nick. Nick and I were cool but hadn’t really talked much and I knew nothing about him personally. As I approached him and put my hand on his shoulder, I thought “God… I don’t know what is about to happen but I don’t know ANYTHING about this kid. If you’re there, please give me something to say so I don’t just stand here like an idiot!”
Well, I put my hand on Nick, said the only words I could think to say which were “Holy Spirit Come…” and I waited. And I waited. And I kept waiting until my silence started to feel awkward and unbearable and then it happened. I saw words again. This time they were “Strong”, “Husband”, “Protector”. Now, I know Nick does CrossFit so I’m like, “This isn’t God! This is just my mind grasping at straws here! Of course he’s strong, he’s a CrossFit dude!” But then I get this overwhelming feeling of joy that comes outta NOWHERE and all of the sudden I’m just talking and blurting stuff out again without even knowing where it’s coming from! I tell Nick that he is going to be an amazing, protective husband to his bride one day and that she will feel so safe and loved and joyful in his presence. I tell him that even though he feels unworthy of a wife, he is going to have one and he will honor her so much by his inner and outter strength and his devotion to her. I tell him about the overwhelming joy I suddenly feel and that it’s what his bride will feel when she looks at him. And then it’s over; I stop rambling and ask him if ANY of that just made sense.
Nick tells me that it spoke directly to his heart; directly to the secret fears and doubts he’s had about his life. See, he made some poor choices with women in his life and he felt that because of those poor choices, no woman would love him or find him worthy or “husband material”. And what I said gave him so much encouragement and hope and belief that God’s got his bride and he will have her in due time. I mean, it was AMAZING! We were both kinda choked up and amazed at how the Lord used me to minister to Nick on such a deep and personal level! And remember, I didn’t know ANYTHING about Nick at that point. All I could say after that was “Wow!” And still, a week later, that’s all I can manage to say: “Wow. Isn’t God amazing?”
I TOOK GOD OUT OF A BOX!
Not literally, obviously!
But, if you noticed in the 2 previous miracles, I had so much DOUBT in my heart. Doubt that God was as big as He really is, doubt that He would actually use me to minister to others, doubt that I was “good enough” or “holy enough” for God to really speak to me or through me.
During my week at Training Camp, I saw God move with such power and might and majesty…. it was overwhelming! And I also got to experience Him first hand in my own heart when He burst out of the small box that I’d unwittingly put Him in and showed me that He can do exceedingly and abundantly above all that I could ever ask or think (Ephesians 3:20)!!
I fell in love with God and God’s word all over again at camp. I was revived and awoken to a whole new spiritual and supernatural realm in my faith that I’m still processing and working to understand. But this I believe: my God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)!!!! And if he healed the lame, gave sight to the blind, and cured the lepers 2,000 years ago, he can and WILL do it today!! And what I witnessed at Training Camp is but a glimpse into the miraculous wonders that He will reveal to me on my 11 month journey around His creation. I just need to have faith and believe that the great I AM is the great God of miracles.
And I’m here to tell you friends: He is.
Hallelujah, HE IS!!!
