Just the night before I watched a testimonial video of a man who had a major heart attack as he stumbled through the hospital
doors. He was immediately sent to the emergency department where they
resuscitated him and tried to keep him alive. But their attempts were futile
and his life left him. The doctor in charge gave up, and left the patient. Later, the doctor heard a voice saying, “Go back and pray
for that man”. Thinking it silly, the doctor disregarded the voice. Again, the
voice repeated, “Go back, and pray for that man”. Finally, the doctor gave in,
and returned to where the dead man lay. He laid his hands on
the man, and prayed these words, “Dear God, If this man does not know you, I pray that
you raise him from the dead.” The doctor then called another doctor to
resuscitate the man once again. “But the man is already gone!” was the reply.
But he did it anyway. To his surprise, the man’s pulse returned, and the man
came back to life!
Reading through 2 Kings, one theme
that struck me was the theme of Faith. In 2 Kings 4:1-7 we read about the story
of a poor widow who had nothing left but a flask of olive oil. A creditor was
threatening her and her two sons, and she begged Elisha for help. He told her
to borrow empty jars from her friends and neighbors, and fill them with the
olive oil. “And she did what she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her,
and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim!”
[2 Kings 4:5-6] If she did not have the faith to do as she was told, asking her
neighbors for as many empty containers as possible, she wouldn’t have seen the
miracle.
Further on in the
chapter we see two other stories of similar faith. One was when a woman from
Shunem asked Elisha to save her dead child. The woman had the faith to chase
Elisha down; and when her husband asked her what the matter was- without
knowing about his son’s death, she said, “It will be all right”, knowing that Elisha’s
God would save her son. And sure enough, when Elisha stretched himself out on
the boy, the dead child came back to life!
A little later in the
chapter we see how Elisha feeds a hundred people with a sack of grain and 20
loaves of barley bread during a famine! “And when they gave it to the people,
there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the Lord had promised.” [2
Kings 4:44] (Does this story sound familiar?)
Earlier in 1 Kings 17:8-24, we saw a
similar faith filled story of a widow from whom Elijah asks for bread. She sorrowfully replied that she had only
enough to make a last meal for her son and herself before they died of hunger.
Elijah replied, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but
make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for
yourself and your son.” The woman did as she was told, and they all continued
to eat for many days, and there was always enough to eat. Later, her son became
sick and died. Elijah stretched himself out on the boy and brought her dead
child back to life again. (Doesn't this sound parallel to Elisha's stories?)
In 2 Kings chapter 5, Naaman, the
King of Aram’s army commander, went to Elisha to ask for healing from his
leprosy. Elisha sent a messenger to tell him to wash himself in the Jordan
river 7 times. At first Naaman stormed off, saying, “I expected him to wave his
hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me!” In
his mind, he couldn’t comprehend the seemingly silly act of washing himself in
a river no different than any other river. Then, he decided otherwise, and
obeyed Elisha. Immediately he was healed!
In chapter 7 we see what happens
when someone follows the path of disbelief. Elisha told the king and his
officer during the famine that the prices of food was going to drop
significantly the next day. And the officer replied, saying, “That couldn’t
happen even if the Lord opened the windows of heaven!” Elisha replied, “ You
will see it with your own eyes, but you won’t be able to eat any of it!” And
sure enough, the officer saw the miracle, but was trampled to death at the
gates before he could taste the food.
In chapter 6, the King of Aram
sent a great army to capture Elisha. Elisha’s servant began to panic. “Oh sir,
what will we do now?” Elisha replied, “Do not be afraid! For there are more on
our side than on theirs!” Then the Lord opened the young man’s eyes and he saw
that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. Indeed,
when we are on the Lord’s side, we can have faith in the things unseen,
believing in the miracles that He has promised.
There are many debates upon
the relevance of miracles today, and I myself have been pretty cynical, and
still am sometimes. But I will end with this story that my papa told me last
night when I asked him for his opinion on miracles today. My father is a
doctor, specializing in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. About more than 20 years
ago, he had a patient who was bleeding profusely after her delivery. Even after
giving her blood transfusions, it wasn’t enough to replace the amount of blood
lost! Her pulse weakened and blood pressure dropped, and she became very pale. Moments later, she stopped breathing. She was clinically, dead. Calling his doctor
friend into the clinic, my father prayed for her, acknowledging Jesus as the
greatest physician. After about a minute of prayer, he looked up to see her face
back to its color, and her pulse back to normal again! It was indeed a miracle.
When slightly recovered, she looked at the doctors and whispered, “I heard you
pray to Jesus for me”.
Though sometimes people abuse
the gift of healing, or misunderstand the concept of faith in healing, I believe that as the Bible says, “without faith it is impossible to please God” [Hebrews 11:6]. With faith as small
as a mustard seed in who Jesus is – the greatest physician, the teacher, the
multiplier – we will see great things happen. Faith shouldn’t be purely in what
we think should happen, but rather based in our belief of who God is, what He
has promised us, and what He can do. Faith is perspective changing, and it is life changing. It is a gift God gave us to see beyond the ordinary, and peek into the extraordinary. This, is what Faith can do.
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