“When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. But when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left her. The she got up and prepared a meal for him.” – Matthew 8:15-16
Warning: this is a candid post and most likely, you won’t be too impressed with me but here it is: real and transparent.
As I read that verse early this week I found myself saying, “Really, God? You, being the all-powerful, Most-High God think this is a miracle worth recording?” It doesn’t seem like a big of a deal to me.
As we’ve been traveling around Africa, healings like this have been occurring. People with stomach issues come forward. We pray. The pain is gone. Have a headache? Prayer. Poof. Gone
Me, being an American with Westernized thinking, it feels a little ridiculous and honestly menial. So, I’ve been wrestling.
I have A LOT of faith and KNOW God does these things but find myself wondering, is this for real? Did their headache really go away or did they just want to appease the “azunga” (white person) and have me stop touching them? And even more ashamedly, my heart has been discontent with these “little” miracles; these “little” healings. I don’t mind praying to have a fever go away but what I really want to see is something BIG. I want to see something absurd, like a leg grow back. I want the deaf to hear, the blind to see, the dead to rise. I want to see the lame jump up and begin dancing down the street, giving God all the praise and glory.
Come on God, I know you can do it.
As I’ve been wrestling with this, God asked me a question.
“Sara,” he asked. “What is more important; seeing miraculous healings in the physical realm or this miraculous harvest or salvations I’ve been letting you be a part of?” “What’s more important,” he asked, “someone growing a temporal leg back or someone gaining eternal life with Me?”
Oh wow. Because it’s true. As I’ve been traveling and preaching the Good News in the villages of Malawi, hundreds of people have come to know Jesus. The people who have been spiritually blind, now see. Isn’t that miraculous enough? Is salvation and eternal life more important than seeing God heal? Is that miraculous enough for my heart?
Part II.
And then it happened. I went out to the villages to share the Gospel. The Word of God was spoken. People accepted Jesus. We called for prayer. I approached an elderly lady and was told she had pain in her eyes and poor site. I looked into her eyes. She bowed her head and I prayed healing. Amen.
I searched the crowd to see if I could find someone who spoke Chichewa to ask her how her eyes felt. The elderly woman responded the pain was gone but still was unable to see clearly. I prayed again.
Where did my translator go? My team is walking away. Everyone is leaving. It’s time to go. I looked in her eyes again, and something was significantly and visibly different. Just moments ago, her eyes had a thick white film over them. It was now gone. I could see her deep black eyes clearly.
Finally, I got the attention of a native speaker. “Could you ask her again, how her eyes are?” I pleaded.
“Yes.” they responded, “She’s good.”
“What do you mean, she’s good?”
“She can see.”
“What do you mean, she can see?’
Sure enough, the woman could now see normally. She began describing and explaining things she could now see. Seriously, God?!?!
We smiled, we laughed, we hugged,
Right before my very eyes, it happened. God restored her sight. And probably more importantly, God grew my faith.
Thank you God for letting BOTH the spiritually blind see AND they physically blind be healed. I know that YOU God, have made the extraordinary possible, not just in this instance, but in every circumstance I step into. Thank you for giving me YOUR Spirit without measure. Let me never forget that because I carry your Presence with me, I change the atmosphere wherever I set foot. Let everything I do, be done as one filled with Your Spirit. Let Your Spirit saturate every area of my life.
[[YOURE THE BEST!!]]
