May His Wonders Never Cease

I wish I had a real concise way to tell you everything that I’ve witnessed in the last few weeks, but I’m pretty sure the best way to explain it all is, “May His wonders never cease.”
I’ve often heard, that illness, pain and sickness all stems from a lack of faith.
Bull.
Someone please show me an example in scripture where a person was sick or in pain because they had a lack of faith.
I’m going to step on some toes here, but the entire “Health and Wealth Doctrine” makes me sick. Try preaching the health and wealth doctrine to believers in Tsunami stricken Asia or AIDS stricken Africa.
Try and preach that if they just believe in God, He will take away their sickness and give them a Cadillac in their garage.
Now I’m not going to doubt that people were and are healed because they had great faith -- but don’t try to tell me that a person is lying in a hospital bed because they don’t have any faith.
I thought a lot about this as I received updates on one of my sisters, who was lying in a hospital bed in Dallas over the last few weeks, after suffering from several migraines and eventually a seizure.
I thought about it as I heard an update on a friend, 36 years old, who is lying in a nursing home, virtually unconscious, after several strokes.
I thought about it as I read more updates on the tragic sickness and poverty that plagues Africa and Asia.
The thoughts were even stronger as I sat in my sister’s hospital room, watching and praying, as she asked for my family members to read scripture to comfort her.
And believe me, I prayed for her miraculous recovery. I prayed that she would walk out of the hospital that very day – but God had other plans.
If I were to believe that her illness was a result of her lack of faith, I would have no choice but to curse God right now because she wasn’t able to miraculously walk out of a hospital room.
Why would God ignore her and her lifelong faith in Him as the great physician, comforter and provider?
Instead of cursing the God of Isaac, Jacob and Abraham, I know that God’s ways are unknowable and His healing power is not dependent upon my faith or Amy’s faith.
Thank goodness -- because in the midst of it all, while Amy might remain strong, my faith will waiver.
My feet have a tendency to slip from the rock of my salvation, but His hand is always there, reaching out to me and pulling me back to Him.
And while Amy didn’t get up and walk out of the hospital because someone prayed the “magic words” or had “unbelievable faith,” His wonders never cease.
Knowing me, if Amy had sat up and walked out of the hospital that day, I might have gotten a big head and thought it was my faith or my prayer that healed her, rather than looking to Jehovah-Rophe (the Lord who heals).
Amy’s condition was eventually diagnosed by one of the nation’s top neuro-specialists, hours before she was scheduled to check out.
If she had walked out of the hospital Saturday afternoon, we would still be questioning the cause of her migraines and her seizure.
But because His wonders never cease, Amy has been put to the front of the line for follow-ups and appointments with a doctor whose group sees over 30,000 patients and who flew from Atlanta to Dallas to visit with Amy and look over her tests. His wonders never cease.
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This past weekend I saw His wonders continue to amaze me. But neither time nor space will allow to describe all the wonders I saw.
I had the privilege to sit as a fly on a wall in a van with four wrestlers last weekend on a road trip to Knoxville, Tenn.
On a trip that lasted slightly more than 40 hours, five guys in a van grew closer than ever to each other as well as closer than ever to an amazing, wondrous God.
The five of us traveled to Knoxville, Tenn., where we joined 26,000 students to get our praise on.
We left Rockwall at 8 p.m. Thursday night, arrived in Knoxville at 10 a.m. EST, Friday and pulled out of Knoxville around midnight Friday night amazed and stunned at all we had seen.
We had sat for several hours with one of the greats in the wrestling business, Shawn Michaels -- and rather than talking about wrestling, we sat and talked about God.
We met one of the most genuine and humble players in the National Football League, Justin Griffith.
We had seen God worshiped far out of the box we try and put Him in week to week.
We got our worship on with Israel Houghton in a way that made Sunday morning seem like decaf compared to a triple espresso.
We saw hundreds, if not several thousands stand and walk to the front of an arena for an alter call.
We felt an even stronger renewal of the CWF and its ministry.
We saw God’s wonders at work 24-7. He is truly worthy of all praise.
I don’t know where God will lead me tomorrow or next week, but I continue to pray each day, “May Your wonders never cease.”