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Pools in the Desert
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A while ago I wrote about the fact that God still heals people in miraculous ways today. Celebrations in order! I have been asked to give some examples of how I have experienced this personally, and can describe a few very clear instances. Several times I have also recovered fairly quickly, after someone has prayed for me, from illnesses or injuries when I would have expected to have got better anyway, perhaps more slowly though. In those cases God probably intervened, but there is no specific proof. I have also gained complete movement in one of my elbows after breaking it, when my GP said that it was unlikely that that would ever happen, and I am over chronic fatigue syndrome after several months of being awake for only a few hours each day, followed by a slow recovery over a couple of years. I had a few sessions of very helpful support from a wellbeing clinic in this last case, but the prognosis had been very uncertain. I am very grateful to God and the medical practitioners for these cures.
However, sometimes it is pretty much irrefutable that a miracle has happened. In the earlier post I mentioned a time when one of my fingers was healed in a church meeting. That was a fairly small matter physically, but because it was affecting my ability to play the piano, it was quite a big issue for me personally. Another instant healing was several years ago, in 2003, when I had been developing symptoms of arthritis for several months and my GP said that nothing could be done other than trying to manage the situation. It was becoming difficult to walk at times and I had to go to a conference in Florida. By the time I arrived at the hotel I was in agony and could hardly walk at all. I rang Irene, my wife, and almost cried down the telephone about the pain. (It might have been a text message, but if it was I know that you can cry through those as well!)
She was going to a church meeting in another town that night, where they believe strongly in the miracle working power of God. She said that she would ask them to pray for me at the meeting, which they did. I was, of course, several hours ahead of the UK, so I was well asleep (or trying to sleep) by the time the meeting was in full swing. When I awoke, there was no pain at all and I haven't had any problems with arthritis in my knees since. That's 17 years.
As a final example, in 1979 I was due to go on a weekend away with my church in Bristol. I was really looking forward to it but came down with 'flu the day before. I was in a bad way and had to cancel going. I was a student at the time and another student who lived nearby had been delayed by work commitments, so he prayed for me before leaving to join the others. About an hour later I lost all my symptoms and decided to make my way to the venue for the weekend away. Perhaps one might now think that caution would suggest still not going, especially in these days of Covid-19, but I was young, feeling completely well, no one could tell all weekend that I had been ill and, most importantly, no one caught anything off me.
These are the most dramatic cases of personal healing that spring to mind. I have also seen others healed when I have prayed, and there are verified cases involving people whom I know. God likes to get involved in our lives. He quite often does that through healing us physically or mentally, but he is more interested in relationship; sometimes he doesn't do everything that we would like, but he is there with us in the situation.
It's actually over a month now since Father's Day, but I like to keep my cards up for as long as possible. However, yesterday I found that Irene had folded them up and put them on the desk beside my computer. I'd had a good run this year and it's time to move on because we had guests arriving. However, seeing them there reminded me of the lovely weekend that I had had and I also started to think about my own fathers. My earthly one died several years ago, but I still have a heavenly dad. What did I do for him on Father's Day, and what does it actually mean to have a heavenly father?
When we discuss the Trinity, as I did here a few weeks ago, we talk about God being Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus, the Son, is reasonably easy to relate to because he lived on Earth as a human and experienced life in many ways very similarly to us while he was here. The Holy Spirit lives with us, in us, alongside us, as long as we make him welcome, so in various ways we can become accustomed to his presence and what he does with us. But what about the Father? In what ways is God a father to us? Is he perhaps just father to the Son, who, along with the Holy Spirit, represents him to us?
The Bible makes it clear that that is not the case. Even in the Old Testament, Isaiah, when speaking to God one day said, "You are our Father." (Isaiah chapter 63, verse 16); King David refers to him as a 'father to the fatherless'. (Psalm 68, verse 5) Jesus, teaching his disciples how to pray, suggested that they start, "Our Father." (Matthew chapter 6, verse 9 and Luke chapter 11, verse 2) The apostle Paul wrote on two occasions that we, as Christians, call God 'Father', because of the work of his Spirit in us (Romans chapter 8, verse 15 and Galatians chapter 4, verse 6)
Our heavenly father loves us, sings about us, listens to us, provides for us, protects us, forgives us, and enjoys hanging out with us.
So what does this mean? God made us and loves us as a human father who has made his own children: "How great is the love that the father lavishes on us - we are even called sons of God." (John's first letter, chapter 3, verse 1) Lavishes! How amazing is that? He delights in us, loves us and rejoices over us in song. (Zephaniah chapter 3, verse 17) God sings about us, his children!
If we turn to God and give our lives to him, he adopts us into his own personal family and we become adopted brothers of his Son, Jesus. He does fatherly things to protect us. David says that he 'puts the lonely in families' (Psalm 68, verse 6), because he understands as a father the importance of family life and, like a father, makes sure that as far possible all his children have good supportive relationships; it tends to be us who mess up those relationships, not him.
Our heavenly Father provides for us. Jesus teaches us to pray to him for our daily provision (Matthew chapter 6, verse 11 and Luke chapter 11, verse 3) He tells us that our Father knows that we need food, drink and clothing and will provide these, if he seek first his Kingdom. (Matthew chapter 6, verses 31-33) He also says that if human fathers know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will our heavenly Father give us his Holy Spirit if we ask. (Luke chapter 11, verses 11-13) So he even gives us himself. There is really no limit to how much our Father God will look after us who allow ourselves to be adopted into his family.
Perhaps most importantly of all, though, our Father in Heaven is the one who can and does forgive us our sins. Jesus taught us to pray to the Father for our forgiveness (Matthew chapter 6, verse 12 and Luke chapter 11, verse 4); Jesus himself then died and rose again from the dead to make that forgiveness possible in practice, but it was his father who sent him to do that. God the father loved us so much that he sent his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. (John's Gospel, chapter 3, verse 16); in Jesus we are redeemed - our sins are forgiven - through the shedding of his blood, because of the riches of God's grace. (Ephesians chapter 1, verse 7)
So to answer my initial question, I spent some of Father's Day hanging out with my heavenly Father, just like some of my own children did when they visited me. I think that he enjoyed his time with me as much as I did with them.
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