I'll share a multi-layered request that God was kind enough to grant me.
Here's a little background:
God has done a lot for me and I tend to ask as if he is inclined towards giving, not as if he is stingy. So I was asking to see a biblical scale miracle because he'd done a lot for me but they were seemingly small (in size) and the word miracle implied "bigger" stuff.
In church that week when Pastor read the passage "Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations" the concept of a Gilligan's Island style trap popped into my head... the kind where someone had dug a big hole in the middle of the path and covered it with palm trees and sand to look like part of the path. When someone walked down the path and inadvertently stepped onto the roof of the trap, the roof collapsed and the person would
fall into the hole and be trapped. It wasn't scary because in the end you knew they'd get out, but it was interesting to watch to find out HOW. It was noteworthy that if the person had been paying closer attention, they COULD have perceived and avoided the trap. It was also noteworthy that the punishment for that last casual step seemed disproportionate to the "crime" of not paying attention whilst taking a stroll. Nevertheless, the person was stuck in the hole with no apparent way out. THAT is what stood out to me about that bible passage. We should count it all
joy because it would be interesting to see how God would get us out! Fast forward a few days:
I was at work with boss a who was more interested in protecting their own image than others' well-being. There was a slate pool table that needed to be moved. I said "Hey, let me go grab a cart to make this easier(safer)". Boss says "No, let's just get this done." So I complied and bent down to hoist my corner. While I'd been delayed, they'd positioned themselves and began lifting while I was still trying to get my feet positioned. The pool table moved up and away from me, forcing me to lift from a 'non-recommended' position while the weight shifted to my corner. It turns out there's a REASON those positions are not recommended..lol. So I ended up overstressing my back. I'd hurt my back before and had learned that the sooner you start feeling the pain, the worse the injury is. Within the hour it hurt significantly (usually it took 12-36 hours). And within 3 days I was nearly bedridden. On Friday my wife said "This is serious. You need to go to the doctor." I said "Not before I go to church. I want to see what God is going to do about it" And I explained what I'd seen. Fast forward to church:
So I went to church excited and expectant to see God move (as commanded by that verse from last week)...but I didn't know how or particularly when it would happen. I thought perhaps at some point they'd ask who needed prayer and they'd lay hands on me or something of that nature. But what happened was that as we were singing I started to get healed. And as I was noticing relief in one position it was like I could hear "OK, but you'd better not push it by moving this [previously painful] way". I"m like "Forget that! I'm getting healed!" So I'd move that in that discouraged direction and that pain would flee. Same thing happened with another previously painful motion...and another...and another. Pretty soon I'm twisting and bending all over the place. Probably looked like I was trying to dance...poorly. But I'm a white guy. I figure I've got an excuse to dance with no rhythm.. lol. And as you probably guessed, I ended up fully healed.
BUT... this is where the multi-layered part comes in: And my apologies for the length:
As you may have noticed, my back healing was not instantaneous. And I'm an analyzer who questions pretty much everything. So, as my back was getting healed I started to look for other infirmities, figuring God was going to take care of them all at the same time.
So I thought about my glasses. I've had my eyes prayed for but I've struggled to receive that particular healing. So I took off my glasses and tried some of those 'you can't do this' kind of things. And guess what... I still couldn't do them. And I thought "How is it that I've got enough faith to be miraculously healed in one area but can't seem to get healed in another area?? It's not like one is harder than the other for God." And I was also asking God that question because I was starting to feel discouraged...in the middle of getting healed.
His answer was (I'm paraphrasing) "I set before you life AND death. As long as you're in this life you will have both life and death presented to you. It is up to you which you choose [to focus on]."
And I guess this is the part where the rejoicers get to rejoice, and the nay-sayers get to nay-say.
Meanwhile, I get to rejoice for two reasons at least. One that I got healed. And TWO, that I get to share a testimony of how good God is. (that's kind of a bucket list item I can check off now.)
Love in Jesus,
Kelby
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