Miracles

Yes, God still does miracles. Just not always in the way we expect Him to.

Sometimes when I'm watching Christian programs on TV, I have a hard time listening to people's testimonies of being instantly healed from various health problems. I mean, I'm happy for them, and I praise God for healing them. But somehow it makes me feel bad that I'm still stuck in my situation, that God hasn't given me an instant healing.

Yet even though God has chosen not to heal me instantly, He has done many miracles in my life! They weren't the ones I expected. Sometimes they weren't even the ones I asked for.

But miracles aren't about us...they're about God! He does them for His glory! And He always knows which ones we need, and which ones someone else needs.


Over the last several years, these are a few of the miracles God has done for me:

*God has kept me alive "in famine."
Psalm 33:18-19 says, "the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine."

On the surface, that doesn't sound like a good thing. Why wouldn't God deliver them from the famine? In this case the miracle was not removing the famine, but keeping them alive in it.

That's how I feel about the last 6 years. We know now that there were SOOO many things wrong with my body...but somehow God kept me alive through them.
Here's a partial list:
Lymes disease
Ehrylichiosis
Bartonella
Intestinal parasites
Microscopic parasites in my adrenal gland
Parasites in my blood
Mercury toxicity
Overload of about 60 other individual toxins
Systemic Candida infection
Numerous viral and bacterial infections throughout my body. (Yes, they can "hide" in various organs and wreak havoc for years.)

These are just a few of the root causes we've identified and treated over the recent months. Looking back I'm in awe that God kept my body going somehow in spite of everything that was attacking it. It truly is miraculous! And I am very grateful!


*God has kept me walking in faith.
There have been so many times when I wanted to give up, when I was angry, when I didn't even care anymore...and every time, somehow, God restored me to faith and trust in Him.

It's a terrible thing to lose your health. But I think it's even worse to lose heart and let go of faith in God. By God's miraculous power and overflowing grace, He didn't let that happen to me. He never let me go!
   
"If the LORD had not been on our side...the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away. Praise be to the LORD...Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." -Psalm 124:2,4-6,8

I will forever be grateful to everyone who has prayed me through this trial. God answered those prayers by sustaining not just my body, but my soul as well.


*God delivered me from the tyranny of a drug!
It's hard to put into words what an awful thing it is to be on a medication that you absolutely HAVE to take in order to stay alive. I pray you never have to experience that kind of bondage.

After 5 years of struggling to wean myself off this medication, we asked God for a miracle...and He did it!
In only 9 weeks I went from taking 12.5 mg of Cortef a day, to being completely Cortef-free!!! And I'm still functioning at the same level...maybe even a little better. Praise the Lord!

"In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and He answered by setting me free. The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid." -Psalm 118:5-6


So, yes, God still does miracles, but not always in the way we expect or the timing we ask for.

Remember, not every miracle looks the same. But it's the same God who works each miracle - graciously intervening in our lives with His power and love.

I pray we will all see more of His miraculous hand at work around us.

Blessings,
-Joanna
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