When God is slow to heal...

We have numbers and recordings that we are required to submit to headquarters for every ministry trip that happens with Overland Missions.  I am not a huge fan of declaring to the world how many people received salvation, or received healing from the Lord simply because if we made that same massive effort and only one person was saved or healed, I still think it would be worth it.

However, we receive some grant money from some different ministries who do require numbers...so we count.  Dan was grumbling to the Lord about this the other day and the Lord reminded him that there are lots of numbers in the Bible (like a whole book named Numbers!), the feeding of the 5000, the exact number of people in Jacob's family who traveled to Egypt, etc and that there is value in remembering.  So my perspective on this is changing.

When we were in Mukuni, we had 4 days of ministry and we saw 22 people receive salvation for the first time and the Lord healed 62 people as we prayed over them.  Another ministry team was out in the bush for 8 days and saw 331 salvations and over 100 healings.  Numbers like these make me want to cry because I am so excited for how God is moving in these areas and for all the wonderful changes this will bring to the villages as they share the love of Jesus with their friends as well.  WAHOO!

The next testimony I am going to share is from one of our guys in Advanced Missions Training as he wrestles with the miracles and healing he is seeing:

"During the expedition, our first night meeting brought to us an old man with a massive, grape fruit sized tumor on this lower back near his right kidney. Each progressive night he returned, always asking for more prayer. On the second night he grabbed me and a few others, throwing us into a big group hug shouting “Amen!” What faith he has! 

During our last expedition I found myself extremely discouraged for a time when a young paralyzed girl remained immobile after hours of prayer. Thankfully she did eventually find relief and stood for the first time in two years, and I was able to throw myself into the arms of God and praise Him for His grace. 

As soon as I saw this man return, affliction intact, I told myself that I would not allow my faith to waver because of a lack of immediate, miraculous healing. I will not make that mistake again. It is not by my clock that the Lord works, if it were He would hardly be God. We did not witness the disappearance of the man’s tumor but rather the growth of the man’s faith and spiritual countenance. There is no doubt in my mind that he will find the healing he so fervently desires. It is with extreme gratitude that I thank God for His broad shoulders that carry the weight of all healing and forgiveness. It is not my place to worry or concern myself with what has already been done. Praise God."   - Bryan

This is Bryan as he overlooks the Zambezi River below our base.

I appreciate his honesty - don't you?!  Have you ever seen God work in a certain way with someone else and wonder why He didn't answer in a similar way in your life?  There is great mystery with healing, but what I have learned is that it isn't up to me to pray a "correct" way or to have faith big enough to have God show up and do something amazing, it is all about Him.  We pray in faith believing God wants to heal and He often does.  Sometimes he doesn't, but He is sovereign and holy and we trust in His perfect timing in these things.