A True Story - Turning Belief into an Act of Faith
This excerpt, from Spot in a Stone Wall, is my story of experiencing healing when I believed enough to act...
During a time I’d been thinking and reading about the benefits of rejoicing in the Lord, I had an opportunity to exercise this very principle in my life. I was struggling with my health and unable to function due to a severe migraine headache that I had suffered for over a month. I wasn't able to take care of my kids or even drive because of the dizziness associated with it. We had no idea what was wrong with me, but it was taking its toll on my family.
At the time, I was going through a Bible study and learning how we all come to crossroads in our lives that test what we believe. A crisis of belief comes after God speaks something to us. Following this word from God, something happens in life that brings us to a place where we have to make a decision whether we believe His word strongly enough to act upon it. My crisis of belief came one day as I was lying on my couch trying to cope with the pain in my head. The Lord told me if I would get up and rejoice before Him, I would be healed. I thought about that as I turned over on the couch. Thirty minutes later, I felt the Spirit asking me if I believed what God had said. I said aloud "Yes, I believe it," before I moaned and rolled over again. I believed God’s word to me: if I got up I would be healed, but getting up was hard. It felt impossible. Finally, after an hour and a half, I forced myself off the couch, even with all of my pain and weakness, and decided I would worship God.
I probably looked pretty funny in my pajamas with my hair sticking out all over, standing in the middle of my front room with a streamer in hand and my Phil Driscoll tape playing…but I knew God wasn't laughing.
At first, all I could do was lift the streamer up a little and sway back and forth as I agreed with the worship that I heard. But then I got a little stronger and before I knew what happened, the tape ended. I don't even know when the migraine left, but somewhere between the first song and the last song on that side of the tape I forgot about myself and I was healed! I couldn't believe the first side of the tape was finished, in fact, I was disappointed. So, I turned the tape over and continued worshipping God. When the tape finished, not only had I been healed, but I also had a burst of energy to clean my house. Now that is what I call a miracle! I not only cleaned the whole house, but I had dinner ready and waiting when my husband came home from work. After dinner I started feeling ill again, as my head began pounding. I was tempted to go lay down but instead, I decided to believe God would heal me. Once again, I began to dance before the Lord with my streamer. God was faithful to His word, as I began to worship and rejoice before Him, the migraine pain left and again His peace swept over me.
Just the idea that we can enter into victory during our daily trials and deepest conflict seems unreal, believe me, I know.
The Bible outlines the freedom we can have in Christ if we choose to take part in it. It is up to us to enter in! God wants to teach us to enter into His divine joy in the midst of our struggles and pain.
As I have practiced this over the years, I have increased in my ability to focus on the Lord’s goodness and worship Him when I experience burdens and pain in my life. I believe this is how we worship God in spirit and truth. We do it from that place in our spirit that rises up and says even though things are not going well, we will believe what the word says is true. We choose to trust the Lord.
2 Corinthians 2:14 says that God always leads us in triumph. “In Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God…” (The message)
This is a picture of the military parade that took place after a battle. The defeated army, dragged behind the victor’s chariots, faced total and complete humiliation. We don't need to pray that God would give us the victory; He has already given it to us through his Son.
Although we may feel defeated, when we enter into triumphant praise we become part of the victory celebration. We change the order of our faith, and our faith begins to celebrate.
We triumph in our praise of Him. The battle has already been won. Our triumphant praise can also relate healing effectively to our bodies. Our faith says, “I have been healed over 2,000 years ago in Christ, through His death and resurrection. And the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is dwelling in me and will quicken this mortal body!"
To read more about how you can experience hope, peace and even joy, when you are waiting for your breakthrough, check out Soft Spot in a Stone Wall by clicking here.
Blessing,
Tami Gaupp