Yesterday, just 5 days out of major neck surgery, adorned with a neck brace, I was able to play guitar and sing and lead worship with Donna and the worship team at Abundant Life. I believe that it was a great encouragement to our little church that just one week after they prayed over me I was back having never missed a beat. It was truly supernatural strengthening. This psalm is the only way that I can explain it….
Blessed is he who considers the poor;
The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive,
And he will be blessed on the earth;
You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.
The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness;
You will sustain him on his sickbed.
Psalm 41:1-3
In light of this miraculous healing, with all due gratitude and credit to the talented and dedicated Surgeon and Physician Assistant, both men of God with whom we prayed beforehand, I need to proclaim that God truly DOES strengthen and support His willing servants by providing every resource and protecting us from harm while giving us every good thing we need (physical, emotional and spiritual) to accomplish the good works that He has prepared beforehand to do. (Isaiah 54:17, psalm 91:11,12, James 1:17, Ephesians 2:10)
He will consistently bless those who will be willing to bless others with the blessing they have received.
During our brief sojourn in the hospital, Donna and I were able to pray for and encourage 8 Nurses and a Social Worker, many of whom had either lost their way or were struggling with faith. All received the Good News and prophetic Touch from the Throne of Grace with joy and some tears.
One nurse slipped a note of gratitude into my backpack allowing me to glimpse how the Lord had pierced her armor with His love through this servant. Be encouraged beloved! If I, who consider myself, like the Apostle Paul to be “chief among sinners” can be used mightily by the Almighty God and Savior King of Glory, then all of us who profess and follow Jesus are more that capable of these acts of mercy and Grace. Take up your cross today and see the deliverance of the Lord! To Him be the Glory!
