When Will It Happen For Me?

By Louis Elias

 

I had heard countless stories of God miraculously healing people of various kinds of diseases, everything from cancer to diabetes to the common cold. I even heard incredible stories of missing limbs growing back. These kinds of stories are intended to inspire and give hope to those who hear them, but that’s not always how they make everyone feel. Sometimes these stories make people feel like there is something wrong with them or that God hates them because healing miracles just never seem to come their way. I know this to be true because I was one of those people.

 

I lived most of my life trying to cope with a mystery disease that doctors could not figure out. I spent a lot of time and money going from doctor to doctor, getting one misdiagnosis after another. The end result was always the same; I would become sicker after seeing the doctor because they would put me on medications that my body couldn’t tolerate nor did it need. My medical symptoms would greatly vary, some days I would be totally disabled, other days I would only be partially disabled, and on some instances I would go into a brief remission. The older I got, the more sever my symptoms became. In the worst stages of my illness I had symptoms that mimicked advanced multiple sclerosis, I even had to use a cane to help me walk. My muscles would uncontrollably twist me into a human pretzel; all my muscles would go into painful spasms and then I would lose the use of various body functions. One of my scariest symptoms was when I completely lost the ability to swallow. I had severe seizures, an almost non-existent immune system, deep depression, and a host of other not so fun symptoms as well. Doctors told me that they have never seen anything like my illness and gave me no hope of ever getting better. They eventually gave up and told me to go on Social Security Disability because I would never work again.

 

I can’t even begin to tell you the countless times I prayed to God to heal me. I would hobble up front at the end of numerous church services to be prayed for, and time after time I go away without being healed. I would cry out to God and ask, “ When will it happen for me? Will I ever be healed?” I started to become bitter and resentful toward God. I even told God off a few times and did things that I knew God disapproved of because I wanted God to hurt as bad as I hurt. I was so discouraged I just wanted to give up and die.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One day someone at church asked me if I believed that God could heal me. I thought that was the dumbest question I had ever heard. Why else would I be up front at the altar requesting prayer if I didn’t believe that God could heal me? The very next moment I heard the following words come out of my mouth, ”Of course I believe God can heal me; I just think that after being sick for most of my life, at this point it’s improbable that He’ll heal me.” Immediately God began to speak to me about my less than faith filled response. He took me to the scripture about the woman who had an illness that caused her bleed for 12 years of her life (Luke 8:43-48). The Lord showed me that it was this woman’s faith, her total belief that Jesus could heal her that activated the healing process. It didn’t matter how many doctors she saw or even how long she had been ill; she just believed Jesus was the cure. I realized that I needed to stop speaking words and thinking thoughts that were contrary to faith. I began seeking out scriptures about God’s character, faith, and healing, like Psalm 103:2-5: Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits-who forgives 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. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” In Acts 10:34 it says, “Then Peter began to speak: ”I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism”

 

God had to first began healing my flawed thinking by renewing my mind. I had to really get into the Bible and seek God. I had to come to the understanding and belief that God really did love me and wanted to give me good things, including healing, and that He doesn’t play favorites; He will do for me what He did for someone else. God just wanted me to believe that He can and will do what He says He’ll do. He needed my thoughts and words to come into alignment with His Word. I needed to begin confessing what His Word said and not what my circumstances were dictating to me. Once I began doing this, God took me to the next step.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the night of September 11, 2002 God gave me a dream. The dream stated that I would be healed, have a job in the counseling field, and have a worldwide ministry to hurting and rejected people. Within two weeks of having the dream God began the healing process. He was preparing to place me into a period of recovery. The Lord revealed to me a medication that would stop the painful medical symptoms. I went to my doctor and informed him of the medication I wanted to be put an along with the dosage. My request didn’t make any sense to my doctor because as far as he knew, the medication I asked for shouldn’t have had any effect on my medical condition. My doctor graciously humored me and prescribed the medication because he knew that it wouldn’t harm me. Within 40 minutes of taking the first dose of the medication EVERY symptom stopped. I continued in this recovery period free of symptoms for the next three years. Why didn’t the Lord just outright heal me? He did it this way because He had to perform further healing in my though process in regards to the negative feelings I had about myself. The Lord sent me on a journey to find out who I am in Him. The Lord also took me through a time of testing to prove to me that I could trust Him with every area of my life. It was during this time of self-discovery that He created a job for me in the psychiatric social work field, just as He had foretold in my dream. The position I hold working within case management never existed before. God created it just for me. To this day I’m still the only one who holds my title within the agency I work for. It’s pretty amazing since you normally need a college degree and a license to do the work I do and all I have is a high school diploma. When God calls you to something, He will qualify you.

 

Finally on September 11, 2005 God gave me another dream that stated He was taking me from my recovery phase into total healing. That Friday following the 11^th, God healed me. I literally had physical changes happen to me right in front of those around me. It was pretty wild, my hair color changed from a light reddish brown to dark brown and my voice changed and became very deep. That was my outward evidence that my healing was complete. To this day I remain totally healed and set free. I no longer need to take medication to stay well and I haven’t once called in to work sick. It turns out that some of my hormones were poisoning me due to a defect in a specific hormone receptor in my body. When God healed me, He literally had to redo my DNA to correct the problem. God showed me that nothing is too hard for Him. What about the last part of the dream you ask, the worldwide ministry? Well, you’re witnessing the beginning of that!

 

If you are reading this article and living with some sort of disease, birth defect, or difficult medical situation, just know that what God has done for me, He will do for you. It’s not a matter of how good or bad you are. It doesn’t matter if you are a church member or a drug addict on the street. Nor does it matter what you have done. God loves everyone the same. He’s not out there condemning you; He’s calling you to Him. Healing, deliverance, and a new life are for you if you’ll accept it. God says in Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

 

If you have never asked Jesus into your heart to be your Lord and Savior, why not do it now and start experiencing love and freedom like you have never known?  Just pray the following prayer. Jesus, I believe that you love me and want the best for me. You proved that when you died for my sins on the cross. Please forgive me of all my sins and come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. Amen. If you have prayed this prayer you are now Born Again. Salvation, healing, and a new life are yours. Remember, God can and will heal you, set you free, and meet every one of your needs because He loves you that much. Nothing is too hard for Him.

 

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