Distracting Noises

This morning I happened upon a verse I had not read before: Isaiah 30:33

"Topheth has long been prepared;  it has been made ready for the king. 

Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; 

the breath of the LORD, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze."

Pretty strong language.

 I was curious. What is Topheth? 

What in the world happened there? Why does God’s Holy anger burn against it so? 

I did a little research. And I found out basically, it all goes back to sin.

Doesn't everything?

First, there was a god called Molech. Its origins are in all ways evil. It was a god who produced sun, or warmth - in theory of course. In practice Molech was only appeased by death. Primarily the death of children. First born, new born, babies. Or perhaps, if the need was there, some children up to age six or so.

Really? The death, by sacrifice, of babies?

Think about it.
Don’t let your brain go all Hollywood and visualize drums beating and crazy people carrying babies to a big fire then…
Cut! Crying mother and its over.
This was real. You can go to archaeological digs in the Middle East right now and see thousands of dead baby bones. Thousands of dead babies. One account says at one point the nobles- the upper class, affluent people- thought the god was angry with them because instead of giving their own babies they were buying babies from poor people and giving them as a substitute sacrifice. So their response was to repent and offer up 200 of their children all at once. But in their zeal more than 300 children were actually slaughtered.

The god was represented by a large hollow metal statue. Being the god of the sun’s warmth a fire was lit inside of the statue. Some accounts have the tiny babies being dumped inside the hollow burning part all at once. Some say the statue had outstretched hands ready to receive the little ones. Perhaps it was spring loaded and then fed the children into its own fiery belly. One account says that was probably too mechanically complex. The babies were just placed in the statues’ hands and left to slowly burn to death over several hours as the fires grew hotter and the heat transferred throughout the statues’ metal body.

Do you think that precious innocent one was screaming in terror and pain?
Crying out in the confusion of being abandoned and tortured?
If they were old enough, calling out, “mama, mama”...

Without a doubt they were crying.

So how do you keep a parent from being moved by this? 

Play the drums louder. 

Add some horns and flutes. Chant.
How do you keep anyone from being moved by this?

Mask over their cries with distracting noise.

The practice of Molech’s sacrifices has gone on for a very long time. Leviticus shows us God’s admonition to the Israelites way back in chapter 18 verse 21 
 "Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD." 
 Even though this edict is very plain, some leaders and people of Israel actually practiced this ritual. Where?

Topheth.

It was a place right outside of Jerusalem where the sacrifices were performed. The word means “altar” but it was not a place of beauty it soon just became a garbage dump. It was a place where death and discard reigned. There was a continual fire burning, probably to mask the smell. It was also called the Valley of Hennon. This place was so vile it eventually gave birth to the Greek word Gehenna which we know today as Hell.

The Scripture from Leviticus is pretty plain and straightforward, “Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD."  

Why shouldn’t you sacrifice your children?
Not because it is hurtful to the parents or will seriously deplete your population growth? 

No, because it profanes God’s name. It hurts the very core of who He is.  

We are all defined by our name. God chose to reveal Himself to us by His many descriptive names. He is our Redeemer, Provider, Healer, Shepherd and on and on. It is of great interest that God forbids sacrificing children because it compromises who He is. It profanes or negates His Holiness and goodness. What a connection. God must truly see these innocent ones as a reflection of His purity and power. He must value them as a piece of Himself; a precious reflection of the Creator of the Universe in a sweet small human form.  Don’t misunderstand, there were sacrifices of adults as well. But just as God has clearly explained to us what is right and wrong, so also the demons know evil and good. The worshipers of Molech were fully aware of the abomination, the blatant evil, involved in this practice and did it anyway because they knew, as well, the wondrous power of the holiness of God. If they were to effectively try to bring down the LORD they must fight fire with fire. Pure innocence compromised allows evil to reign.

Totally irrelevant to us today?

God’s Word is never irrelevant. It speaks to us throughout time.

I can hear the cries of the innocent babies echo from sacrificial fires burning strong and bright, right now, today. The children of the world are being sacrificed as easily as they were thousands of years ago. Every time I choose to indulge in a North American luxury and turn my face away from images of malnourished toddlers the drums beat louder. Every time I think the numbers are too great and I cannot possibly make a difference another worshiper pushes past me and tosses an innocent one into the flames.  Every time I ignore the cries of the children next door being beaten and silenced I pour fuel on the fires of evil triumphant. Each time I give in and say "some" abortions are needed...

Do not tell me that children are of value to you unless you can take a stand; do something besides cry and turn away. Do not raise your hands in praise beside me and offer worship to God as His name is profaned by your indifference and ignorance to the cries of the little ones.

I pray that one day we may truly see the Holiness of God and comprehend our unworthiness of His love. Then perhaps we can value what He holds most precious and guard it with our lives. Then perhaps we can understand how beautiful to Him our prayers for the protection of His children truly are. How valued are our few dollars when used to buy rice for hungry tummies. How life changing and life saving is our compassionate response to their needs. How tenderly loved by God we are when we simply hand a needy mother a blanket to hold her baby in instead of having it ripped from her to be tossed into the fire.

The weapons with which we fight this evil are simple: faith, hope and love. 

The greatest of these is Love.

References:

Bob Westbrook 9/11/99  http://www.trumpetsounds.com/topheth.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gehenna

http://www.preceptaustin.org/god's_name_-_a_strong_tower.htm

http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/profane.htm

The Bible and the End of the World: Should We Be Afraid? By Margaret Nutting Ralph

http://www.biblestudytools.com/leviticus/18-21-compare.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch

The Dalai Lama and The Christian

A man who has been assigned the title Dalai Lama will be in Williamsburg this week. I recently found out that some people, who are affiliated with a Christian Church, are going to hear him speak. They have paid for tickets and are eager to attend.

Hmmmmm…

This gave me pause. I know that this Dalai Lama is a part of the Buddhist belief and is a proponent of peace. But I didn’t know much more about him. I am simply not the person to make assumptions and jump on the next train to Judgementville, so I have been reading and studying. Thankfully I have spent the past 30 years studying the Word of God and His son Jesus so I don’t have to find out what I, as a Christian, believe. I can now see the contrast and I know pretty easily where I stand on this issue.

If you are still with me I would love to share some of my thoughts about this man and His ideology.

 First of all he makes it quite easy to see what he believes and how important they are to him. On his website he states his three main commitments. They are:

the promotion of human values,

the promotion of religious harmony,

and what he sees as his responsibility to act as the free spokesperson of the Tibetans in their struggle for justice.

Sounds good.

Except for a Christian.

The promotion of human values is loosely defined as all the good things that people are capable of… Sure we can all understand that being kind and forgiving is something we should all do, but why? The Buddhist teaching wraps this around a word called Karma.

In this world nothing happens to a person that he does not for some reason or other deserve. Usually, men of ordinary intellect cannot comprehend the actual reason or reasons. The definite invisible cause or causes of the visible effect is not necessarily confined to the present life, they may be traced to a proximate or remote past birth.

According to Buddhism, this inequality is due not only to heredity, environment, "nature and nurture", but also to Karma. In other words, it is the result of our own past actions and our own present doings. We ourselves are responsible for our own happiness and misery. We create our own Heaven. We create our own Hell. We are the architects of our own fate. http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/karma.htm

They got the misery part right. According to Scripture we are all born with a sin nature that creates misery wherever we go (Romans 5:12). But this sin isn’t an accumulation of sin from our past lives. Each person is a unique and precious creation of God (Psalm 139:13-14), therefore they cannot be held responsible for the sins of another person who has died.

For the Buddhist there is only ethical living and meditative appeals to exalted beings for the hope of perhaps achieving enlightenment and ultimate Nirvana. More than likely, one will have to go through a number of reincarnations to pay off his or her vast accumulation of karmic debt. http://www.gotquestions.org/buddhism.html

The simple truth is we can not achieve a sinless state without Redemption from a Holy God. The Lord explains simply in the Bible that we all are far from holiness (Romans 3:23) but we can be forgiven and restored to His plan for our lives if there is a Sacrifice. And Jesus did it all for us when He died, an innocent holy offering for our sin (John 3:16). 

As far as living in this enlightened state, that is what Christians do through the work of the Holy Spirit as we “grow in Christ” It isn’t difficult or unattainable to be a better person. But the key difference is that we are not doomed to pay for our sin through many sad hopeless lives. The kind things we do like feeding the hungry caring for orphans, treating the sick, we do out of love for Jesus not out of a need to break free of the sins of 20 reincarnations.

How about Number 2?

The promotion of religious harmony… Please understand that means making your religion (your personal belief) secondary to all other beliefs and not promoting your religion to anyone…ever…for any reason.

As Christians we believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life. If anyone rejects Jesus he is cut off from God and eternally damned. John 14:6

This is pretty important stuff.

A person accepting Jesus’ atoning sacrifice is life or death in the largest understanding of those words to a Christian. So, if I truly believe this then sharing my faith with others is like choosing to pull a person from a burning building or from the path of a bullet.

If I truly believe my Christian faith, I must make it preeminent and not be willing to compromise my faith for another.

When asked, the Dalai Lama himself said this:

I believe it is possible to progress along a spiritual path and reconcile Christianity with Buddhism. But once a certain degree of realization has been reached, a choice between the two paths will become necessary. 

http://hhdl.dharmakara.net/hhdlquotes2.html

Hmmm… Make a choice is basically what he said.

His last point is about the freedom of Tibet. I am not too well versed in any of the conflict with China or the oppression of the Tibetan people, but I’m sure it is there. I applaud anyone who stands for the oppressed and tries to make life better for them. But I have a tiny inkling that this man is using his beliefs and the obvious appeal of peace for all to draw attention to a small poor country that needs help. So, as a Christian I do agree that the Tibetan people should be aided. They do not need to be converted to my faith for me to offer them help. That is not what my Jesus taught. But I certainly hope that the Dalai Lama would not place restrictions on uncompromising Christians who wanted to help his people if he had the chance to do so. As of right now it is a country closed to Christian missions.

My conclusion is this: the Dalai Lama is a simple religious leader who believes he is a reincarnated holy man. He may have a worldly peace but he does not know and trust Jesus as his personal savior. He is doing good to stand for the people of Tibet, but I cannot ascribe to his teaching about man’s karma or the need for homogeneous religions.

And finally, if you are a Christian and you are following this man as a teacher you are 100% on the wrong track. His teachings directly conflict with the basic tenants of our Christian faith and I strongly urge you to spend time with a Godly mentor and deep study of the Bible to decide which faith you truly do believe.

Some links I recommend for more information:

http://www.gotquestions.org/buddhism.html

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/june11/18.70.html?start=1

http://utmost.org/the-nature-of-degeneration/

http://www.omf.org/omf/uk/asia/china/about_china/people_groups_of_china/tibetans

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aiia/letter-buddhisminterview.html

http://www.gotquestions.org/buddhism.html

http://www.dalailama.com/biography/three-main-committmentsnm

Happy Mother’s Day a Little Early

 It was the second Sunday in May, I was almost 22, teaching preschool during the week and preparing to movie into a brand new house. I was also 4 and ½ months pregnant with our first child. My husband and I went to the nine o'clock service at our 200 year old Methodist church like we did every Sunday. After the service, as we sipped coffee, a gentleman walked up to me. He was a goofy, fun loving giant of a man who often teased the young people of our small congregation. But this time he spoke wistfully, confidentially. He leaned over to me and said,

“Happy Mother’s Day. I know the baby isn’t here yet but I don’t know why people wait to call you a mother. I think you are one now.”  

It still makes me smile to think of this great hulking man who was more comfortable with a shotgun or a fishing pole than a little pregnant woman, taking the time to talk to me about Mother’s Day.  But he said so much in those few words. 

He affirmed me as a mother.

He gave me credit for all those days of nausea and not being able to eat anything.  

All of my worry and prayers for this little one.  

All of the tiny clothes I was washing and putting away. 

All of the tiny kicks and punches.

All of the unknown fears of what would lie ahead.

All the silent secret things an expecting mother feels and thinks before other people ever acknowledge her as a mom. 

He also made me remember, my solemn responsibility to this little unborn life to guard and protect him, to nurture and love him before I ever saw him. And I suddenly felt like a mom. All those little doubts at the edge of my mind were banished with the thought, 

"I am a mother"

It was one of those small moments that you remember forever.

Thanks David, you probably never knew it, but you were the first person who ever wished me a Happy Mother’s Day.  And I treasure your words even still.

Go to sleep…Please.

I remember those years. I remember when the kids were little and feeling as if my life depended on them going to sleep. Because only when they were asleep could I be (partly) off duty. Bedtime was a time I looked forward to why couldn’t the kids?

I have to admit I was spoiled at first. My oldest son loved to sleep. I had to wake him up the first night home from the hospital in order to feed him. So bed time was no drama. And we enjoyed hanging out together anyway.

But #2 was a whole ‘nother story. As a newborn he would sleep…for 20 minutes at a stretch. With his fist coiled tightly in my hair. And his head on my shoulder. We went through some tough times for the first year or so. And the poor little guy was so unhappy. No wonder… he was exhausted.

That was when I realized the things that #1 and I did for enjoyment as we got ready for bedtime really were essential to help #2 fall asleep. Plus anything that is repeated and becomes a ritual is reassuring to kids. Children thrive on the assurance of knowing what is happening next because they have done the same thing every night. I began to think it through: The sun doesn’t just turn off like a light switch why should we expect our kids to? So here is the simple bedtime routine we used.

Everything in this routine pointed to downshifting. Life was getting slower and quieter on purpose. We sometimes watched a TV show together. One show which was preapproved and screened by mom. 

No rough and tumble wrestling with Dad. (That was done when they attacked him as he walked in the door.) Dad can be a huge help with this routine as long as you are both on the same page with the whole calming atmosphere idea. Sometimes dads can be vunerable to suggestions like pillow fights and racing up the stairs.

Having rough and tumble boys usually meant a bath was necessary before bed. But it also is a great means of relaxing, if you make it so. Warm water. Relaxing soapy head rubs. A big fluffy towel. And end with a lotion rub on little legs and shoulders, hands and feet.Then brush teeth and into their own beds.

But I had already made their room ready. Toys scooted out of sight. (My kids had to have a clutter free floor before nightfall because I always told them, If a fire fighter needs to come rescue you he shouldn’t have to walk on your Legos) Clean sheets and warm blankets turned down and ready. I had a dim light turned on so as not to use a harsh overhead light. Lights are getting progressively dimmer as they get closer to sleep. 

Then we would snuggle with our favorite books.

Invest in a collection of classic children’s books. Real paper books. No screens, just soft paper and the swish of turning pages.Use your best soothing voice and cuddle together with a story or two or three. I certainly can recommend some great night time reads.

Runaway Bunny  Margaret Wise Brown

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

The Beast in the Bathtub by Kathleen Stevens

Winnie the Pooh   by A.A.Milne (not the Disney version)

A Child’s Garden of Verse   Robert Louis Stevenson

A poll of my kids last week showed that all three named Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown as their #1 best remembered and favorite bedtime book. Every child should just be born equipped with their own copy as far as I am concerned.

Make sure the kids know how many are going to be read before you begin and stick to your guns about it. Even though this became my favorite part of the day and I could read all night we needed to have an end time.

When the books have been read, it is time for night time prayers. Even the littlest one can learn “Dear Jesus, I love you. Amen.” Use this time to begin to gently nudge them to a vibrant prayer life with their Heavenly Father. Take the time to talk about their prayer needs and encourage gratitude and worship as they talk to God. And don’t forget to pray for them as well. Your children need to hear you praying for them.

My oldest would then have me turn on music for him to fall asleep to (the child loved Motzart best) But the younger two liked stories. I highly recommend Adventures in Odyssey by Focus on the Family. They are amazingly well made Bible based stories done like old time radio dramas.  There is something dreamlike about having stories or good music floating around the room like a starry night.

Last is the tuck in and kiss. And leave the room. You are trusting them to learn how to fall asleep. And if the siblings talk a little, then that is a double bonus because whispers that mom cant hear help cement the love and trust between brothers and sisters.

Bedtime, can be your most treasured time of the day as the kids unwind and just enjoy cuddling and hanging out together. I urge you as tired as you are, don’t rush this tender sweet ritual, you will build a store of memories to hold onto forever.

links: 

http://www.madeline.com/

http://www.margaretwisebrown.com/

http://www.whitsend.org/  for Adventures in Odyssey info. They have podcasts and downloads avail here.

What is your routine? What has worked for you? Please share!

Brother's Keeper

So I am worried this morning about one of my kids. They are all teenage or older and I can’t boss them around like I enjoyed doing when they were younger. What to do? Easy. Call the oldest and get him to take care of it; have him call, text, question, probe and make sure everything is ok. Yes, I did say that and I did it. And the reason why it works is because I deliberately created a relationship between them when they were younger. They were taught how to care for each other. They were taught to love each other, when they were very young.

Intentional Parenting: Deliberately building relationships.

Why not? Why not be purposeful with your kids. Don’t just react and respond to whatever they bring in. Anticipate their life needs in a month, a year, a decade. You, as a parent will not always be there. One day it will be just the brothers and sisters working together to take care of the family. And before I had kids I thought I just didn’t want the nightmare you sometimes see when mom is gone and the adult kids are feuding.

Let me start at the beginning. We wanted to have a second child soon after number one was born. But God didn’t see it that way. (See http://strive4hisbalance.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-samuel.html for the back story) So we ended up with a 5 (almost six year old) and a newborn. When I was pregnant people would sigh and say

Oh, it’s too bad they are so far apart in age. They will never be close.

Hmmmph. The way I saw it I had been praying for our family for years and had left it in God’s hands; if He had given us baby #2 five years after #1 then I guess He could help them love each other. And I was going to do my part to see to it that they would. Intentionaly.

To start, the age gap became one of the many reasons we decided to homeschool kid #1. The first few weeks of homeschooling with a five week old baby (who never ever slept) were like living through the zombie apocalypse, but we made it. Homeschooling gave us so much more time to spend together. We were able to do things like  kid #1 helping to bathe his brother and feel his first teeth cutting through *ouch!*. And kid #2 got to learn how to pull up to the piano and tap the keys while #1 practiced over and over. I have a delightful video somewhere of #1 trying to eat corn on the cob with no front teeth and #2 happily gnawing away at it with all four of his teeth.

They loved each other. They were brothers.

Then three years later #3 came along. It was a whole lot harder getting two boys to accept a girl into their world, but we did it. They loved her, even if she was not named WonderWoman as #2 wanted to call her.  The boys looked after her. Later on she cleaned up after them. Kid #2 came and played doll house with her, even though his house had a skate park and was owned by Anikin Skywalker. The guys baked in the heat to watch her at her horse show. She tagged along to their concerts and competitions.

And all along I would say things to them like,

“He is your brother, work it out”

“She looks up to you, don’t blow that.”

“All I want is for the three of you to come together to take good care of me when Im old: or just pay for a maid.” (haha)

I look around and I see families where the kids are cut throat about getting something more than their sibling. They keep track of everything the other siblings get. It is like there is a tally sheet of mine and yours. (And if you give each one the exact same thing that will happen anyway.) Or, God forbid, the parents instigate it by doing more for one than the other. Or parents outright belittling one sibling to another. Playing power games inside a family will tear it apart.

Please, please don’t do this.

Remember this is your FAMILY. Your tribe. Your kin. They will be there when everyone else runs. They are your blood. And when more are brought into the family  either by adoption or marriage, your cup runneth over. Don’t forget: Children are your REWARD, your INHERITANCE, Your BLESSING from God Almighty.

Your family is your treasure.

Make every effort to encourage your kids to love their siblings. Be deliberate. Say things to them like:

Your brother loves you.

Your sister needs you.

Your brother thinks you are the smartest boy in the world.

Your sister wants to do everything you do.

You can help your sister better than even I can

Your brother will listen to you when he won’t listen to anyone else.

If you create an expectation of a close relationship then it will happen. If you set them up to depend on each other then they will.

Just think about this: If your children can’t love and support each other with loyalty, who can they be loyal to?

Be encouraged today to cultivate close sibling relationships in your family. Build up and expect your kids to love each other fiercely and protectively. If your family is a big, soft, safe place your children will always run home to be with each other.

(Note: This does not mean that they will not push each other down the stairs in a laundry basket when you are not home...hahahaha)

Just for Moms: Letting Go.

I was going through some old journals the other day. (You remember when we used to write our thoughts with a pen and paper) Some of the writing was poetry, some story ideas, but mostly it was to and about my children. My oldest is finishing college and mostly not living at home now so it was quite bittersweet when I came across this entry dated summer 1988, he was almost one year old and I was learning a lesson in letting go.

“Yesterday Schuyler was sitting, playing in his room and I was hopping from one task to the other, when I felt him tug on my jeans to get my attention. One of his favorite things to do is to have me hold both of his hands as he tiptoes a silly goose-step walk as far and as long as I will walk with him. I reached down as he grabbed on and away we went down the hallway. I glanced down and saw his chubby stubbornly clenched fists wrapped securely around my fingers. I realized as we marched along that he was barely leaning on me for support to balance himself as he walked. The farther we walked the more he was balancing and stepping on his own, but he would not let go of my hands.

‘Schuy-ler’, I teased,

Big light brown eyes and a bald head mischievously turned to look up at me.

‘You really don’t need me. You can let go and do this by yourself.’ I admonished him in a semi serious tone.

He responded with a babytooth grin and an excited laugh. Then he tightened his grip and walked on.

I tried to pry his fingers from mine but each time I tried he would stop walking, begin to sway and loose that confident strut.

A little frustrated, I tried again,

‘Schuyler, you really can do this. Sometimes Mommys need to let go.’

Suddenly what I said hit me like a ton of bricks. Pride at his obvious ability to achieve his goals and keep trying was battling with a fierce protectiveness which fed my ego saying, See, he still needs you…

But I knew in my heart this truth:

Schuyler 1989

Sometimes Mommys must let go. Even though a child may be unsure of his ability sometimes the best thing a mother can do is let go and say

You can do this without me.

You can do this without me.

You can do this without me.

You can do this without me.

I just want, my sweet boy to know that I felt, in his hands that day, his inner strength and ability to do so much. I saw all the challenges and adventures life would bring to him one day and I knew he would meet them and succeed. He would, by God’s grace, make it just fine without me.”

Wow. You can imagine how those words written 25 years ago challenged me today. Had I been true to letting go? Did I give him the freedom to try to do it on his own? Probably not as much as I should have. If I had it to do over I would certainly step back a little more. It is just so hard as a mom to always know when to save the day and when to let them brush themselves off and get up on their own. I had to begin right there by taking my hand away and letting him learn to walk on his own. Falls and bumps certainly came with the autonomy, but he learned and thrived without me.

Just when you think they don’t need you they are desperately calling for help just one more time. I do remember the times when I let the children struggle to complete a task. 

Finish recopying a paper late into the evening. 

Brushing off the dirt and getting back into the soccer game. 

Struggling with a new song on the piano.

 It was not easy to keep from stepping in and helping, but I knew they would gain so much more from the struggle than from being rescued by mom. It certainly isnt easy to watch them work so hard at something that we could fix so easily. But, I encourage you to love your kids deeply, and remember sometimes Mommys need to let go.

Healing Anna

About a year ago my sweet sister sent me this message. But first let me tell you about her. She is 10 years younger than me and is one of my heroes. She has lived with MS for years and still works full time, is raising two wonderful children with her husband, and taking care of our mom. She does this with a vibrant faith in God and an uplifting inspiring outlook on everything. This is what she wrote:

  “I have had a question that has been pulling at me for quite a few months now involving healing. you know my health issues. lately i have been feeling as if i am not putting my faith where it should rest. i have been feeling that God is telling me that i am to "step out of the boat" and have faith. problem is it is scary and other people think it is not right for me to stop what i am doing and just depend on God to heal. i am at a crossroads and i don't know what to do. Other people don’t understand my conflict  i am unsure if it is a real spiritual pull or a subconscious detesting of my health state. i know this message probably makes no sense but i just had to ask. love you. take it easy.”

And this was my answer:

  I am humbled that you asked me this. This is a big question. All I can do is tell you what God has done in my life and the truths I know about Him.

I dont know if you remember that I had extreme high blood pressure when I was 18. I was on medication to save my life for more than 6 years. I was on it the whole time I was pregnant with my oldest. I began asking the same questions you asked after the first year.
I had people tell me,

 “God can heal you.”  “You don’t need to be sick.” “You need to believe God will heal you.”

I was scared to death to think about living my life outside of what the doctors were telling me to do. (You have to remember I had had two major surgeries before I was 7 years old. Sickness and Doctors were a way of life. My body let me down all the time.) So finally in 1988 I prayed and prayed about being healed. I didn’t tell anyone, I just took my pill bottle as soon as I got it from the store and wrote across the label     PRAY. 

And I did, every time I took a pill (3x per day) I would take it with prayer, thanking God for healing me. After 2 years of that and lower and lower BP readings the doctor said you don’t need this anymore. So I stopped the pills in June of 1990 and have never needed them for high BP since.

(Please note that I did not stop taking my meds, I do not believe God has given us medical advancement for no reason, if the medicine is integral to the treatment of the illness then DO NOT stop taking it until you have talked to your doctor and are sure it is absolutely the right thing to do.)

Did God heal me?
Did my prayers have anything to do with it?

The Bible says in James 5: 14-16 " Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."

So I guess the answer is yes, 

God did heal me, 

                          by my faithful prayers... 

                                                           by His great mercy.

I have had other times of healing in my family but I wont go into them all here. Suffice it to say God is faithful and good.

But, I also know of a couple who had a 3 year old little girl whom they prayed for over and over, who died. And a friend whose 5 year old son died of brain cancer. Another whose step dad was killed by a doctor's mistake during a common testing procedure.

Does that mean God is not faithful? 

Does that mean God is not good? 

Does God heal everyone? 

Why not?

I dont know.

So if I were to try to answer your question I would say this: It isn’t about you. 

As much as you want to be free of this, healing is about God's glory and power, not yours. I know you aren’t looking for either of those things (power or glory), but make 100% sure that you examine your heart before you pray these prayers of outlandish faith.

Can God heal you? Do you have the faith to believe that? 

What if He doesn't? 

What.  If.   He.   Does.   Not.

Does that mean you didn’t have enough faith, didn’t pray long, hard, properly, enough? That you aren't good enough, don’t deserve His healing? 

You have to ask yourself the hard questions here, because so much is at stake.

 Basically, what I am saying is this:

Is your relationship with Jesus strong enough that if He doesn’t heal you, you two are still in love?

And if He does heal you it wouldn't make any difference in your relationship either, because you are so in love?

Do you see what I mean? Healing and miracles are not about us, they are about Him, His glory, His power, His Sovereignty. After all, your body is only a costume you are wearing for a short time. He is much more concerned with your eternity than this mortal coil.

I have a friend whose healing I have been praying for, for over 20 years now. They struggle with depression, addictions. I have wept and pleaded. I see improvement some days, some days are nightmares. They take meds for some of this and their faith has been really beaten up through this struggle. But we keep believing and hoping and pressing on.

To be perfectly honest as I typed this I have been crying and pleading with God for your healing, sweet sister. I am reckless in my prayer for you, I have nothing to lose. It breaks me to think about what you have to go through. I want with all my heart to be bold and pray great sweeping healing change into your life. But I need to remember God loves you infinitely more than I do. He has this in control. He has you in the palm of His hand and He is working in you to make you more like Him.

I hope this helps. God knows I wish I could be there and look you in the eye and tell you this. I hope this message will do for now.

That is what I wrote her about a year ago.

Post Script: As of today Anna gave me this update,

“You should also know that as of December of last year I stopped taking the medication (only on thyroid meds and vitamins) and I feel 100% better. I have had very few minor symptoms and not one relapse. I am thanking God for everyday because without him, I would be miserable. You can quote me and yes, it is a God thing. Odds are I should have had a relapse by now and God has kept me going stronger than before. I have been helping teach Lent classes, Reya's ATG group, I have had the energy to stay up and hang out with Russell and I even went to DC all day for RJ's robotics expo, then we went to the air n space museum and then Ben's chili bowl and I wasn't relying heavily on caffeine to keep me alert.”

Did you catch that? It’s “a God thing…God has kept me going stronger than before”

To Him be the Glory. Thank you Lord.