“God, why are you letting this happen to me?” I whispered toward the cross hanging over the foot of my bed. “Why couldn’t I be alive two thousand years ago, when you could just snap your finger and heal anybody of anything? Why don’t you…” I paused mid-sentence in an attempt to hear what seemed to be a voice whispering out of the darkness in response.
I paused, not daring to breathe. Then I heard it again. This time, I recognized the voice. It sounded like my own! It was reciting the Bible verse I had memorized just a short time before.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” I listened to my own voice repeat the verse several times. Then came a shift as a different voice seemed to take over. “I am the same yesterday and today and forever, Wendel. And guess what? I am the same as always, even at this exact moment! Yes, I healed every kind of sickness yesterday, and I heal every kind of sickness today! In fact, I can always heal any and every kind of sickness you can imagine.”
I pulled the covers over my head, uncertain if the voice was just my imagination or if Jesus was really talking to me. Not daring to move for fear of disrupting this special moment, I waited. Then suddenly, in a burst of joy and wonder Bible verses I had memorized over the many past months exploded into my mind and began to fit together, forming a simple yet profound truth. It was like finally discovering several pieces of a puzzle that locked perfectly together to reveal part of a bigger picture.
This was a revelation of spiritual truth. It sailed into my heart like an arrow, bringing new hope and simultaneously striking death to the childish fears and doubts that had haunted me night after night.
Excitement swept over me. I knew Jesus had come to me and that He would heal me! I knew it! Yet I also knew I needed to do something to activate the faith I had in what I knew Jesus would do.
After some careful thought, I quietly whispered into the darkness, “OK, Jesus, I’m not going to look at or touch my knee for two weeks. When I take a bath, I will not wash my knee. I will not talk to anyone about this except You. I believe at the end of two weeks you will have taken away all the warts. Thank You!
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Those were perhaps the two longest weeks of my young life. I was extremely careful to remain completely oblivious to what might not be happening to my knee. Finally, the day came when the two weeks were over. I watched the clock until the exact preset time arrived.
Then I looked. I was astonished at what I saw. I could hardly believe my eyes! Yet I had to believe, for there was not a single wart to be seen, not even the slightest indication that there had ever been fifty-two warts there. My knee had been totally and completely healed.
I began shaking as the realization sank in that Jesus, my same ancient hero of the Bible, now so much more than that, had really come into my bedroom and really talked to me two weeks earlier. He had heard my declaration and observed my act of faith. Jesus, the God of the universe past, present, and future, cared for me. Me!
He had revealed himself to me. He had wrapped me up in His love, and I knew it.
TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW…