On January 1, 2011, Keith and I were observing the San Diego Kite Club flying kites on the beach. A stranger came up to me and asked, “Would you like to have this kite?”  Almost six weeks after the Lord miraculously healed me of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. Another test of my faith.

Do I have the energy and strength to get this heavy thing in the air?After many attempts, I ran on the beach and finally got it in the air! Impossible with fibromyalgia. I had no pain, but my muscles weren’t strong. But God!

That kite was too big to hang in my house, but I hung a smaller kite in my bathroom as a memorial to the Lord’s healing. Each morning when I take a shower, I am reminded of God’s mercy.

Today is the eighth anniversary of the Lord’s healing. God miraculously healed me of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome on November 21, 2010, confirmed a miracle by my doctor.

8 Things I’ve Learned 

Jesus was in Jerusalem for a feast. He walked past many sick, lame, blind, and withered men and women at the Pool of Bethesda, and He stopped in front of a man who had been ill for 38 years. The man was waiting for the waters to be stirred. He thought that when an angel stirred the waters, the first person who entered the water would be healed. Actually, there was an underground current that stirred the waters.

Do you wish to get well? John 5:6

Strange question. Or is it?

Sick, he knew what to expect. If well, he would need to earn a living. He would encounter the unknown.

Maybe you have a broken marriage. Do you want Jesus to heal your relationship with your spouse? Some people don’t want that. They just want to give up and move on.

Before Jesus healed me, I knew what to expect. Keith took care of a lot of things for me. Would things change between us?

Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me. John 5:7

Couldn’t he get nearer to the pool and just plop in when the waters were stirred?

Get up, pick up your pallet and walk. John 5:8

Faith produces obedience and worship, resulting in rest.

1. Wait for Jesus. We don’t know how long the man had been waiting at the pool or how many times he tried to get in the waters before someone else. I am sure that he felt hopeless. God told Keith and me two years before I was healed that He was going to heal me, but the medications weren’t working, and I was getting worse. I was ready to resign from my job. I thought I misunderstood God. I lost all hope.
   Hope in Jesus; He’s standing beside you.
2. Get up. Jesus asks the man to do the impossible. He has no strength. He has a choice – have faith that Jesus will empower him to rise or tell Jesus that he can’t. Doesn’t Jesus do that with us today? He did with me. I had a choice. Do I take my pain pills and my sleeping pill the night of healing, or do I trust that Jesus healed me. I took nothing and slept until 7:00 the next morning; previously, I did not sleep that well WITH the medications.
   What is Jesus telling you to rise up from?
3. Pick up your pallet. Jesus told the man to remove the very thing that gave him comfort in his sickness, his pallet. He could’t relapse, because his pallet was rolled up and in his hand. I had to tell my doctor and others that I was healed. The doctor agreed to cut some of the medications and told me that if I was okay in a month, he would declare me healed, and we would cut the rest of the medications. One month later, we cut the other medications.
   What opportunities for relapse do you need to roll up?
4. Walk. Another impossible command. But Jesus is right there. The man walks. Jesus prompted the man to give me the kite, and He gave me the strength to run on the beach.
   What step of faith do you need to take?
5. Tell others. It was the Sabbath, and the religious leaders told the man that he couldn’t carry his mat. “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’” John 5:11
   I told my doctor I was healed, and after many questions, “This could be good, Karen.” I told my coworkers, and one nurse asked me if I was afraid to tell others that the Lord had healed me because the healing might be a placebo effect. “I have to tell others.” 
   Are you telling people how God has worked in your life?
6. Worship. Jesus found the man in the temple. The man may not have entered the temple in a very long time. Perhaps, he offered a sacrifice of praise. We can worship God throughout the day, and reminders like the kite and other memorials prompt me to stop in gratitude and praise.
   Are you in the habit of praising God for what He has done in your life?
7. Sin no more. There’s speculation that the man had sinned and brought on the calamity himself. Others believe that Jesus was warning him about the spiritual consequences of sinning. John Piper says, it’s a call to holiness! Because of the Lord’s healing, I felt an increased responsibility to represent God well, and the more I walk with Jesus, the more I realize how sinful I am.
   How’s your awareness of God’s holiness and your sin?
8. Rest in Jesus. Although the religious leaders were upset, Jesus’ command to take up his mat demonstrated instant strength where there was no strength; the man was finally free; he rested in the work of Jesus. AND HE WALKED! He was at peace and rejoicing. Although I had been a Christian for close to half a century, I had not experienced the freedom I felt when Jesus healed me. My body was finally able to experience true Sabbath rest.
   Are you resting in Jesus?

Jesus Heals in Unique Ways

Jesus touched the leper, spoke to the man at Bethesda, and placed mud on the eyes of the blind man. Our Creator made each of us to be unique individuals, and He interacts with us differently. Consequently, He heals and works in our lives in unique ways. The New Testament describes different ways that healing (physical and spiritual) might occur, but Jesus is not limited to these.

• Anointing with oil and praying for healing (James 5:14-16).
• Laying hands on each other and praying for healing (Mark 16:17-18).
• Using God’s gift of healing (1 Corinthians 12:9).
• Demonstrating faith for healing by the one who needs healing (Matthew 9:22).
• Demonstrating faith for healing on behalf of another person (Mark 2:4-5, Matthew 8:13).
• Using medical treatment (1 Timothy 5:23, Luke 10:34).

God still works in our lives today. Whether healing needs to take place in your marriage, your job, your body, your children, or your finances, Jesus is able. He loves you. He has plans for you, for good.

Miracles still happen today.

Genelle believes in miracles, do you?

My prayer

Jehovah Rapha, God our Healer, thank You that You deal with each one of us uniquely. Creator of the Universe, You know the very hairs on our heads, each atom in our bodies, and You have wonderfully made them. You knew us before we were formed in our mothers’ wombs, and You created works for us to do from before the foundation of the world. You have called us Your poem. Father, I pray for the readers who need healing in their marriages, in their finances, in their relationships, in their jobs, or in their bodies. Touch them with Your healing touch. Deepen their relationships with You, and bring them to the point of worship and prayer without ceasing. We want to glorify You, Lord, in all that we do. Empower us to rest in You. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.

Please share how God is working in your life in the comment section below.