I'm a Workplace Chaplain by profession. Like an ol' Methodist Circuit Rider Preacher, I range all over the Great State of Texas for a company with ten facilities and over 500 employees. I have put nearly 20,000 miles my brand new car in six months. I thank God that I'm able to serve in this way; it was not that long ago that such a job would have been impossible for me.
At age 28, I was diagnosed with an incurable, hereditary spinal disease called ankylosingspondilitis (A.S.). Say that three times fast! I learned that my great grandfather had to quit working in his 40s because of arthritis in his back. Perhaps he had A.S. and they hadn't assigned to it a fancy name yet. All I know is that my kindly Jewish doctor warned me that it was incurable and he assured me that, by the time I turned 50, I would probably not be able to walk because A.S. has the tendency to turn one's spine into a bamboo pole.
Thanks, Doc...now, how much do I owe you?
From that point on, my back would "lock up" on me as well as my hips with excruciating pain moving from hip to hip and up and down my back. In time, I wound up walking with a cane and, eventually, had to quit my job. I "slept" sitting up. I referred to my own bed as The Chamber of Horrors. I felt as though I hadn't slept for years. I couldn't carry a laundry basket or bend over to load my dishes. I gained 40 pounds by sitting around doing nothing but trying to get comfortable and was not enjoying life all that much.
Somewhere along the line, I became a believer that Jesus still heals the sick. I began requesting prayer, asking to be anointed a course in miracles oil. I recall a minister having an altar call for healing and I desperately asked if HE would mind coming down to where I was sitting. When I was up all night, I would begin praying for other Christians and situations around the world. I felt directly responsible when the Berlin wall came down, something I'd been praying for fervently. Fortunately, I had this new, growing online ministry to keep me focused on OTHERS rather than always on my own pitiful situation.
I took meds for pain. Lots of 'em, like the woman with the issue of blood who spent all her living on physicians, and could not be healed by anyone (Luke 7:6-8). I claimed verses on healing and how God gives sweet sleep to those He loves. I did warfare all the time and prayed for others who were sick and saw THEM get healed. Sure, I had moments of deep despair. I almost filled out the papers for Medicaid twice and looked into nursing home care.
The healing was gradual over a 3-year period as little by little, about 6 years ago, I caught myself bending and moving in ways I'd forgotten that I could. These days, I keep my cane as though it were a crutch left at the healing waters of Lourdes, a silent testimony to what God had brought me through.
Last Summer, while sheetrocking my ceiling, I sprained my back. When I told my Christian chiropractor about the A.S. diagnosis, he was amazed because, he told me, I had a "textbook spine" with no sign of any disease at all. Well, I'm 47 now and strong as an ox. I carry things I probably shouldn't, swing hammers, dig post holes and load and unload trucks as my wife and I have physically done home repairs, remodeling and landscaping on three houses in nearly as many years.
So, take that, devil!
EXPERIENCES WITH HEALING
In Mark 16:19, Jesus declared, "In my name...they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
In Matthew 10:1 we read," And Jesus summoned to Him His twelve disciples and gave them power and authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out, and to cure all kinds of disease and all kinds of weakness and infirmity."