GOD IS OUR HEALER
Sunday,
October 12, 2025, was like any regular Sunday! The preparatory song before the
sermon was being sung, and I was gearing up to preach the sermon titled "Overcoming
Faith," from the life of Joseph. What happened in the next three minutes
changed many things in my life. I was struck with acute abdominal Pain to the point
of passing out, which lasted only 3 minutes and went away as quickly as it
came.
I
went up and delivered one of the most powerful sermons (I thought), and then
concluded the service. I said, Praise God for a miracle of healing! Maybe not
so quick! Later in the day, the debilitating Pain returned and lingered for two
days. On Tuesday, October 14, at midnight, I couldn't tolerate the Pain and
called in the Ambulance and was rushed to the nearest Hospital's Emergency
room. After several blood tests and scans, I was sent home with pain
medication. Pain was so intense I thought I would die of it.
No
matter what I did, I couldn't escape the Pain. For the second time, I was taken
to the ER. More scans, tests, and aggressive treatment to deal with Pain
followed. One of the scans showed that one of the main arteries that supply
blood to the abdomen was severely inflamed, and a few blood vessels showed aneurysms.
I had no control over what was happening to me!
How
would you process, in the middle of the night, when the doctor wakes you up and
tells you that your inflammation is so severe that it can be treated with heavy-duty
steroids? However, the risk is that there might be internal bleeding, and when
that happens, we are not equipped to save you! Within 45 minutes, I was back in
an Ambulance and driven to Boston Medicals. This time, a true miracle happened!
As I was being carted out on a stretcher, my abdominal Pain completely left and
has not returned since. Praise God for Healing Me! When we cry out to Him in
our distress, He will come to save us. God Is Our Healer Psalm 18:1-21
The
two Ambulance rides were the most frightening and loneliest rides I've ever
taken. No one was with me! But God held me tightly with his loving and caring
hands. I thought I might never see Wilma and our children again or hold my
grandchildren. Fast forward to now, after undergoing additional tests, scans,
and spending seven days in the hospital, I am pain-free and have been back
home, refreshed and recovered. I am feeling normal. Infact, in some aspects I'm
feeling better than normal. I give all the Glory to God for His miracle-working
Power!
During
this difficult time, I am grateful to God, my family, the Hope Church family,
and friends who stood by me and prayed for me. Though I am your shepherd at
Hope Church, as a sick and weak sheep, I have been shepherded by all the
members of Hope Church. Thank You! God got my attention with that three-minute
pain-filled episode, which changed many things!
A
new perspective on life and ministry dawned on me. We take many things for
granted in life. I've come to realize that life is short and will soon be gone;
therefore, let's live our lives to the fullest while we still have today. I
feel, however, that God has granted me a fresh lease of life. How do you
approach life? James, Jesus' half-brother, provides a proper perspective on
life.
James
4:13-17, "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to
this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will
happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little
while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to
say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."
As
it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought
to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them." (NIV) This whole episode left
me feeling broken. I have empathy for those who are enduring a chronic sickness.
Suppose
you are facing acute Pain. God understands your Pain. Maybe he is using it to
get your attention. Don't numb it, but face it with God's help. As the Psalmist
did, let us cry out to God together.
I. God is Our Strength
and Deliverer (Psalm 18:1-5)
During
my hospitalization, I read several Psalms that comforted me and gave me hope
and courage to trust God. They gave me words to pray to God for my situation. Psalm
18 was one of such faith-building Psalms. Where was David when he wrote this
Psalm? What was his status? I want your help with this. What is the number one
priority of the president of the USA?
They
are to protect all citizens of the USA, regardless of their party affiliation
or religious beliefs. But what if the president wanted to take revenge on
certain citizens because they opposed him or he deemed them a threat to his
sovereignty? Where would these citizens go for protection? That was precisely
what David was going through. He was running for his life.
Here was King Saul, who
was hotly pursuing him to the extent of killing him because he deemed David a
threat to his Kingdom. David was desperate! He was in the wilderness, unsure of
whom to trust or who might betray him to King Saul. He faced enemies on all
sides. Yet in those frightening moments, He recalled God's faithfulness and
relied on God's strength and love.
Psalm
18:1-2, "I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and
my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of
my salvation, my stronghold." Is your situation overwhelming you? Do
you feel like no one can protect you from those who might be attacking you physically
and emotionally, and that people are out there to see your destruction? Open
your mouth and declare, 'Lord, I love you.' You are my strength. You are my
deliverer! I run to you because you are my stronghold. I take you as my shield
so that the fiery arrows of the enemy will not harm me." I call upon you,
Lord, you are worthy of Praise."
At
times, when you are sick and feel like the cords of death entangle you and
overwhelm you. You cannot even pray. When I was going through excruciating
Pain, I could only pray the wordless prayers of the Holy Spirit. I groaned and
writhed in Pain! Oh God, Please Help Me!
II. God Is Our Healer! (Jehovah Rapha) Psalm 18:16-21
Psalm 18:6, "In my distress, I
called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple,
he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into
his ears." When you are physically and emotionally distressed, all decency
and convenience go out of the window. You are in agony, and you cry out in
Pain. I did that while being driven in two Ambulances and a car. I wiggled in
Pain on a stretcher outside the scanning rooms. Stayed up all night crying in
Pain on my hospital bed.
Cutting
through the Boston skyline, my cries came before him, into his ears. Though it
took me a while, but certainly at lightning speed, Vs16, "He reached down
from on high and took hold of me, he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me
from my powerful enemy, from my foes (inflammation in the celiac artery,
aneurysms in a few of the blood vessels), who were too strong for me. They
confroted me on the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support.
He
brought me out into a spacious place (from the confines of a hospital room and
a bed) to my loving family, home in Sharon, and the Church family. Why did he
do that for me? He rescued me because he delighted in me. Yes, I spent seven
long days in the hospital, but now I am home. I feel for the person who has
been in the hospital for almost a year at the BMC.
Please,
Lord, have mercy on those who are enduring Pain. Please heal them, as You are
our Healer, Jehovah Rapha! Are you tired of being tired? Is your sickness
overwhelming you? Are you emotionally distressed and in Pain? Cry out to God,
He is our strength, deliverer, and Healer. Let me conclude with these healing
scriptures.
Psalm 103:1-5,
"Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy
name." Praise
the Lord, my
soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your
sins and
heals all your diseases, who redeems your
life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who
satisfies your desires with good things. So that your
youth is renewed like the eagle's."
