We have a Basset Hound puppy who is growing longer by the day. We had a travel kennel for him to sleep in while we are out but it was getting too small. We priced the larger kennels and found that they are $130. plus tax, more than we could currently afford. So our daughter prayed that God would provide a kennel for Duke. I didn't know she had prayed. She just kept it between her and God, but she trusted that the same God who had supplied our needs time and time again, would do it again. And He did! As we were driving to Kids Club last Wednesday night, Alannah shouted for me to stop the van. I couldn't stop it on a dime but I eventually got turned around and we went back to the place where she had told me to stop. There on the side of the road, in someone's discarded pile of junk was an extra large dog kennel. It was in perfect condition! God did it again.
I tell you that story to tell you this one: as I was singing during the after service the other night I noticed a person in visible physical discomfort, sitting in the congregation. Frankly, they were in quite a bit of pain. My husband had asked for people to come forward for prayer and many had but not this person. Although they are a born again Christian and they knew that God could and does heal people of their sicknesses, they chose to remain in their seat. I couldn't understand why. When you know that help is there why wouldn't you take it? I knew I needed a kennel for Duke, God had provided one for me, why would I then pass by it and never stop to take it home?
So being the curious person that I am, I approached this person after the service and asked why they hadn't gone forward for prayer and this was their answer: "God has more important things to take care of than me." I couldn't believe it! God cares about the tiniest sparrow. He knows us intimately. He's concerned with our troubles and He wants to help. This person who was in so much pain knew all this. They had sat in church for many years under good teaching. They know that God loves them and that He cares for their every need. Or do they?
We can read the Bible and never apply it to our own lives in a personal way. We can sit under good teaching and hear all the promises of God but always think that they are for other people. We can have the truth laid out for us, right in front of us, and still not see it. We can be spiritually blind. I felt so bad for this person that they were so close to being relieved of their pain and they didn't think that healing was for them; that God didn't care.
But I KNOW that God cares. I have seen Him move in my life and in the lives of others so many times. He has not only healed me, my husband and our children of very serious illnesses but He has provided for our needs so many times that I have lost count. God cares about all of His children. Both of our sons were born with clubbed feet and we were told they would both need multiple surgeries to correct their feet but neither one ever had one surgery and their feet are perfectly straight. God healed them both. I have seen a tumor disappear, after prayer, from my father's back. I have been without food for our family and God has provided food in abundance for us, just in time for supper. I could go on and on telling you of how God still heals today and provides for us, and how He has proven Himself over and over again to me, but I think you have to experience His power for yourself to truly know what He is capable of.
It begins with trust. Do you trust Him to meet your needs? Do you trust Him to heal your sicknesses? He loves you. He wants to take care of you. If you were dying of thirst in a desert and someone offered you a drink of water, wouldn't you take it? I think of this person, who was in so much pain during the service, as that person dying of thirst and refusing to drink any water. The promises of God are for all people who will accept them and trust Him.
We believe the Bible is true; that it is God's inerrant Word. If God did the things the Bible says He did, can't He do them today? Yes! Of course He can and He does! We sing the little chorus "God can do it again and again and again, He's the same God today as He always has been, Yesterday, and forever, He's always the same, there's no reason to doubt, God can do it again". These are not just words that were put to music and we enjoy singing, they're the truth. Trust God and see that He can do it again! He will provide for all your needs and He will heal your sicknesses if you put your trust in Him.
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8
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