I had a guy I work with tell my wife her lack of faith keeps her in a wheelchair. I told him no a C-5/C-6 spinal infarction and likely Polio Relapse keeps her there. His church is so legalistic {a name it claim it type} that any events other than peaches and cream life is their fault because of their faith and that is not what The Bible teaches at all.
Let me put it this way. If I'm going to be operated on I prefer both a surgeon and prayer. I'm not too dense too realize that the doctor himself was given his talents from GOD just as therapist.
I'll say this as well. I've seen the laying on of hands work but not in a manner that was expected. For healing the person they were praying for? Nope. She lived but can't walk. During that event I felt the presence of The Holy Spirit overcome me and heard an audible voice say It's going to be OK. It was a peace I had never know before or sense.
It was my girlfriend the hands were on. My new found love. Months earlier my first marriage ended with vows fulfilled. It was till death did we part. I almost lost my girlfriend I met a few months afterward due to the onset of quadriplegia.
I was taking her to the ER from a mall and she was describing her death to me. She too was dieing. She knew what she was seeing she was a CNA and sat with many of her patients in their final hour.
Here's what many Christians don't realize. Bad things will happen. Sometimes miracles happen and sometimes GOD has His own reasons as too why things must be. This was one of those times and it started with the loss of my first wife who was 23.
The woman I met had been abused all her life and raising her kids also due to abandonment by an abusive husband. Had my first wife not died we would not have met & she likely would have died as well. We met because I took a job transfer after my wife died. I was with her when the quadriplegia hit. I got her to the ER and first night was touch and go for her.
Like I said it was a traumatic period of time. It changed me and it changed my entire outlook on life. We married three months after this hit her and that was 26 years ago. What would you consider the odds of us lasting the first year? LOL
GOD didn't say she was to be healed He said it was going to be OK. Nine years later my own disability hit. If you get an anxiety patient who spasms like getting hit with a cattle prod he's having Myoclonic Seizures. Chances are his sensory system is dysfunctional such as auditory and Visual disorders. They treated me for typical anxiety SSRI's nearly pushed me over the edge. Xanax has been my friend for 16 years plus. A good drug in my case.
You see we're perfectly matched brawn and brains. I didn't loose my ability to lift her from bed to wheelchair when this hit. I lost substantial concentration abilities though. I rely on her and she relies on me. It took me years to understand the message given me. But I hate to think of where I would be if I hadn't met her at that time in my life.
GOD didn't let neither me nor her down. In our adversities He is there. If you can find it look for a book called Joni. It was a book they had my wife read when she got to rehab. It really can reach ones who are suddenly afflicted with serious illness.
I have seen loved ones die. I don’t believe in miracles as there is no empirical data, its a nice thought for others, but for me, I can’t accept the supernatural. My father had a strict no-code on him, it worked, he crashed with an infection after a nasty surgery found cancer. He had no desire to be elderly and undergo chemo and radiation, he lucked out, he got an infection and he was not able to be saved by any means, and he died a very quick and peaceful death. My mother died at home of cancer. I was there for both, I saw it, I experienced it. It was sad, it was tragic and it affected me. Prayer would not have changed any of it. I cant’ believe in prayer, it only helps those who are doing the prayer. There have been lab studies, it does nothing. I would never ever tell someone not to pray, but for me, its meaningless.
I don’t believe in a god like you do, I respect your views, and, for me it was a long tough road to get to my position. But, its a liberating view for me, I control my life for the rest of my life, I have the power over my choices. My life is mine, I can’t cede it to a supernatural force without evidence that it is there. That is just how I operate.
Again, I will never tell you what to think or do, its our lives our choices and I wish you the best.
Great testimony. GB