I want to share with you a story from this past month that ironically happened on our day off. (Day Off: 1 day a week where we take a “break” from ministry to get some much needed rest, spend time together as a team, have fun, and get ready for the next week.)
For our first day off, we decided to catch a public bus into the capital city to go to a small mall. Once we got there, we all ran for FOOD! You would have thought we had starved all week the way we chowed down, ha. (We’ve actually eaten really well in case you’re wondering.) It was great. However, my teammate, Cody, was having problems with his gallbladder and it began causing him a lot of pain in his chest that wouldn’t go away. After lunch, we all split into pairs and went to explore the mall. Cody and I went to go look for wifi and an ipod case, all the while he was still really struggling with the pain.
For the past few months God has really been teaching me more of who He is and walking in that — that He IS our Healer, our Provider, our Protector, etc. And that we can come to Him in faith and stand in who He is and who we are in Him. Sickness has no place in our life and we CAN come against it and take authority over it in the name of Jesus and walk in His healing. Slowly He’s been challenging me to act on it and make it part of my life and not just something I know in my head. So you can imagine that in this moment that the Holy Spirit was nudging me to pray for Cody. At first I was like, “but we’re in a mall…in Honduras…and we’re already the weird looking gringos walking around, what are people going to think?”
Nonetheless, I couldn’t escape the promting that I needed to pray for him. Finally, I turned and asked if it would be okay if I prayed for him and he said “of course.” We found ourselves in a restaurant with a few people at neighboring tables, and although they looked at us funny, JC broke it down right there. I placed my hand on his chest where the pain was and I prayed for him. I am not a fancy prayer and I don’t always have the “right” words, but I chose to stand in a place of faith and expectancy that God is who He says He is, that we ARE healed because of what Jesus already did, and I commanded the pain to go and for his body to function properly in the name of Jesus. Then I just began to thank God for who He is. Instantly, Cody literally felt the pain moving and leaving his body! Jesus healed him on the spot! In a Honduran mall! I was beyond excited! I could have ran around the mall at that moment. It was a cool moment to say the least, but God used it as a teaching opportunity, too. I got soo excited over Cody getting healed when I prayed for him because I’ve personally experienced that so little. Which is totally awesome to get excited about! But the honest truth is I was surprised. Why? Because for me, stepping out and praying for people and actually expecting God to walk into the situation and heal them is still new for me. I’ve had the Holy Spirit prompt me to pray for the sick before, and sometimes I would listen, but a lot of times it made me feel really uncomfortable and I missed the window to allow God to move in someone’s life and a situation.
How many times do we have the opportunity to step out in faith, take God for who He is, expect Him to move, and just pass it by? I began to understand in that moment that we are not begging God to show up, not trying to pray something pretty enough for Him to listen and respond to, not trying to get God to do something really hard for Him… No. It’s actually the opposite. He’s waiting for us. Waiting for just one person to take Him at His word and snatch up the opportunity to allow Him to work in our lives! The door is not locked from His side and we are not trying to bust through it. The lock is on our side, and we must simply use the keys he promised us, unlock the door, and invite Him into the situation. And the rest is His. He’s just waiting for someone to create an atmosphere where He can simply be Himself and do what He does. He’s already given you abundant life, joy, healing, provision, everything you need… He’s just waiting for someone to be bold enough to take it and walk in it! He never fails you. He is always faithful. And He is soo good!
For me, stepping out and seeing what God does through it has continued to strengthen my faith and encouraged me to seek more opportunities where the Lord is wanting to do something in someone’s life. I had another opportunity to pray for one of the boys here at the Home who was complaining about his shoulder being in pain. He wasn’t sure why it was hurting, but I saw it as another opportunity to stand in God’s promise of healing and asked him if I could pray for him. At first he said no, but then changed his mind. Again, I just said a simple prayer, nothing fancy, but stood in faith trusting that God was doing something in that moment. I finished praying for him and asked him what the status was on his shoulder and he just looked at me and said the pain was gone, shrugged, and went back to what he was doing. The pain was gone! I think I was more excited than he was, haha.
It’s been a journey of walking in the things of the Lord and acting on them instead of storing information. It’s a place of intimacy with the Lord and embracing boldness and confidence in your identity in Him. And it’s so exciting! And each time it gets a little easier to begin to recognize the Holy Spirit prompting you of these opportunities and to step into them. I always want to be excited when I see the Lord working in and through my life, along with the people around me, but I never want to be surprised. I want it to become such a part of my everyday life that I stand in solid confident and expectancy, and not wishfulness and surprise if something happens. God’s promise is the same yesterday, today, and forever. How little have I taken God seriously or taken all the good things and promises He has so freely extended to me that it would surprise me that His Word is actually true and really does work? Honest moment right there and I’m still letting that one sink in. God has soo much more for us and our lives than we have even begun to scratch the surface of! Whether you’ve been boldly walking this out in your life every day for 30 years, 5 months, or whether you’re still trying to figure out what all of this is really about- He has so much more for you!
If you relate to what I’ve just shared with you from my own experience, then let it challenge you. How much do you really trust God? How often do you find yourself in a place of expectancy in your relationship with God that makes you feel a little uncomfortable? — Where you know that you just put yourself in a situation where you can’t do anything and God has got to do something or you’re in trouble? When’s the last time you prayed with someone on the spot who needed healing? What are the promises of God for your life? How have you applied them daily? How many opportunities have you taken or let pass by?
Choosing to walk in this bold faith has been uncomfortable. It isn’t always easy and sometimes you just straight up don’t want to. But, it is so worth it! Step into the things God has for you! Ground yourself in the Word, remind yourself what Jesus actually did when He died on the cross and rose again, of Who He is and who you are in Him, and then ask the Holy Spirit to show you opportunities where you can put your faith into action! Because He not only wants to move in your life, He also wants the move through your life to touch the people around you! And how cool is that! Let’s walk powerfully in our relationship with Christ! Whatcha waitin’ for? If you have any cool stories of how God’s moved through you stepping out, or if you take this challenge and have any feedback, comment below! I’d love to hear your stories and what God is doing in your life!
