By James Wilson
I
was visiting two patients at the hospital.
The young man took a bad fall while working at a construction site,
landed on his head, and was paralyzed from the shoulders down. He and his father were waiting for my arrival
and his transport to x-ray; the dad asked me what I intended to do. At that moment – in my heart and in my mind –
I knew that I knew that I could pray all day and God was not going to heal this
young man; paralysis was the hand he’d been dealt. Even so I told the father we would pray with
authority – as though we possessed the power to heal that God delegates but
over which He remains sovereign. We
commanded reversal of the injury process in the Name of Jesus and – after about
a ten-minute delay – the young man got up and walked out of the hospital. At the same time I could literally hear God
laughing as He told me He did not care what I knew or thought or felt; He cared
only about what I did in His Name. It
was what we call an Epiphany moment.
The
other patient I visited had diabetes. I
had prayed for her many times with no visible result; I had asked her several
times if she was willing to accept Jesus as her Lord and she had always
politely declined. She was in the hospital
because she had gone blind – a common side effect of her disease. When I prayed for restoration of her sight –
with more confidence this time – her healing was instantaneous. As we rejoiced together she accepted my
invitation to accept Jesus as her Lord.
When I returned to the area six months later the first inquiry I made
was about her – had the Lord continued her healing and released her from the
diabetes? I was shocked and a bit peeved
at the Lord when her pastor informed me she had died of complications from
diabetes. When I went to the Lord about
it He said, “I gave her back her sight; she gave me her heart; now she is at
home with me. Any questions?” It was an Epiphany moment stretched over six
months.
Epiphany
is a traditional Christian season that begins January 6 and ends with a movable
occasion, Ash Wednesday. The word means
to manifest or show forth. It is closely
associated with three events in Jesus’ earthly life: His own baptism; the
Wedding at Cana; and the coming of the Wise Men. In the baptism, the Holy Spirit speaks for
all to hear the pleasure God takes in announcing His Son; the Son’s credentials
are authenticated, per Luke 3:21-22. In
the wedding – when Jesus turns water into wine – He manifests both His concern
and His unlimited ability to provide for His people, per John 2:1-11. And in the visit from the Wise Men – pagan
astrologers from Arabia who travel vast distances to honor the Christ of God –
He shows forth His capacity to draw all men to Himself.
The
Epiphany moments I describe manifest the reality that my contribution to the
life He provides is in obedience, not understanding, as illustrated through the
healing of the paralyzed man. In the
matter of the blind diabetic who went home He simply demonstrates once again
His sovereignty in all things – and the reality that whenever we obey and
accept His authority it always ends well for all concerned – one way or
another. And the fact that He actually
speaks to His people in words we can comprehend shows forth the simple reality
that the God who created human bodies knows best how to heal them, and the Lord
who invented speech knows how best to employ it for good.
Let’s
be clear that the Epiphany season is the season of what my wife, Diana, calls
the “really real” stuff. If God did not
really manifest Himself the ways the stories say they have no value
whatever. If He does not literally turn
water to wine or re-constitute a failed ocular system – eyesight – then these
stories in no way illustrate His provision – or any human potentiality. If He does it the illustrative qualities
abound – but only if He does.
Alternative theories that the Word of God consists of pious yet
uplifting legends offer nothing but a false and narcotic sense of peace and
wellbeing that is shattered by reality.
But the really real truth of God shatters the shadows that portray
themselves as reality. And all we need
bring to the table is a choice – not a feeling – to believe and obey God.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living
As Ambassadors of Relationships and The
Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by
e-mailing him at
praynorthstate@charter.net
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