A new start – Day 13

[BACKGROUND: I would like to share three testimonies of God’s protection and care for us today.]

Reader 1, Anton: “It was about a year ago when I started to experience pain in my right ear. Ever since, I have visited about seven different doctors. The prescribed ointment or pills always brought short relief, before the pain returned. Being a radio DJ, I have to wear earphones daily, which made matters worse. In desperation, I decided this past Sunday to ask the minister and elders to pray for me. Although they anointed and prayed for me, I felt no difference. Two of the men, however, said they felt led to tell me to start thanking God for my healing – even though I had not experienced it yet. The pain worsened and I went back to the ear specialist.
This time, the doctor took his time to examine my ear. With his microscope, he could look as far as my eardrum and to his amazement, discovered a piece of cotton that must have fallen from an ear bud at an earlier stage. It was at the core of the inflammation and pain. The doctor removed it and about half an hour later, I could already feel that the pain was getting better.
Although several doctors previously looked into my ear, it was as if the Holy Spirit, this time, led the doctor to discover the core of the problem. Prayer truly works. All glory goes to God!”

Reader 2, Johan: “I am a paramedic in Mozambique. Some time ago, I received a phone call one evening from a 60-year-old man who reported pain in his chest and said that he struggled to breathe. As he arrived at the clinic, I did every test possible to determine the cause. No abnormalities were found. The pain worsened and I knew I had to act fast to prevent long-term damage to his heart.
A severe storm had broken and that made an emergency medical flight to South Africa impossible. While the man’s symptoms worsened, I desperately prayed to God to perform a miracle. I knew the man could die if these symptoms continued.

God heard my prayer, as the man’s pain suddenly disappeared in the following two hours and he could sleep peacefully. The next morning, I got a place for the man on board a flight to a specialist (another miracle). In that situation, I experienced God’s ability to help and perform a miracle. All we need to do is ask!”

Reader 3, Annalie: “A few years ago, a colleague and I were passengers on board a small 4-seater plane flying from the Rand Central Airport to Harding. As we passed Vereeniging, we heard a loud bang and the plane started losing altitude. The pilot said he would rather attempt an emergency landing than fly over the Drakensberg Mountain.
Realising that we were descending at an alarming rate, I cried out to God and asked him to help us land safely. The pilot spotted a green field and decided to land there. Just when we were about to touch down, it suddenly felt as if someone lifted the plane and caused us to land a few metres further.
We got out of the plane to assess the damage; we realised that we had missed large rocks by metres. Our next surprise: the “green field” we thought was safe to land on, actually was very rocky. If we had landed where the pilot initially planned to touch down, we may have crashed! That day, we all realised that God protected us. He picked us up and helped us to land safely!”

Anton, John and Annalie are right. God desires to help us – all we need to do is ask him for help. Listen to the words in Matthew 7:7: “Ask and it will be given to you …” In James 4:2b it says: “You do not have because you do not ask God.” In Mark 11:24 we read: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

What bothers you today? Why don’t you speak to God about it? God bless.