Your stories of God’s intervention
Getting my eyesight back
I was about 14 when I first needed to wear glasses all the time for reading and computer work. I went to South Africa in 2003 for my gap year, and while I was there I went to a church service. Somebody called for people who might have problems with their eyesight to come forward for healing. I went forward, and somebody prayed for my eyes. The next day I felt they were different, then realised I could read the worship songs without the aid of glasses. It was amazing to feel that God wanted to be involved in my life and care for my needs. The interesting thing is that when I went home I read the whole of the Lord of the Rings without glasses, which would have been unheard of before.
There a deeper work going on too. I felt like God was saying to me that in healing my eyes, he was going to do a work on my soul as well. I have felt that happen gradually and believe God’s promise over me still continues today. My work now involves looking at a screen for eleven hours a day, but I am able to cling to what God did all those years ago. It was him signposting what he was going to do internally, which was almost of greater importance than the physical healing – although he wanted to show me he cared about my eyes.
Rosie, by email
God gave me cortisol!
In September 2013, I went to an endocrinologist (a doctor that specialises in working with the glands and the organs that produce hormones) for the first time. She sent me for some blood tests, and the results showed that I had hypocortisolaemia. This meant that my body was not producing enough cortisol – a hormone essential for survival, which affects things such as energy levels, fight-flight response and blood pressure. (My second test showed that cortisol levels were only twelve, when they should be over 300, which meant that my body was about to stop producing cortisol completely.) I started taking Covocort tablets (cortisol replacement medicine) three times a day. At first I felt as though I had more energy, and I had a great start to 2014 – I did not miss any school in the first term. Unfortunately, after that, the medicine no longer seemed to make such a difference (although I felt even worse if I had my medicine late): I was constantly tired, I still had severe headaches and I was missing school again.
Through my whole journey, my family had been praying that I would be healed, and I had too, a bit. But I think it was only really once I started high school in 2015 that my relationship with God became more personal and I started praying, not just for healing, but for the strength to cope with everything. In 2017, I went on a Scripture Union camp, and on the last night I was sitting with one of my close friends, just talking and praying together. At one point I opened my Bible to Isaiah 40:31, which says: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” I had read that verse many times before – it’s one of my favourites – but this time it was as though I were reading it for the very first time, and it had been written especially for me, to encourage me. After that, if I was struggling I would think about that verse and, in that moment, would feel much calmer. Then, at the start of 2018, I went on my church’s youth camp. The first night, the woman who spoke shared her testimony. She had suffered from back pain for a long time because she had one leg slightly shorter than the other leg. One day, after church, one of the elders prayed for her, and as he prayed, she saw her leg grow right in front of her eyes, until both her legs were the same length. This really encouraged me because it proved to me that the miracles written about in the Bible still happen today (which I already knew, in theory, but I didn’t really believe it until then). On the last night of camp, a few girls gathered around to pray for healing for me. I said to God that when my whole body started shaking, I would know that I had been healed. We kept praying, and, a few minutes later, I started shaking. It was such an incredible moment; I cannot accurately describe how joyful and relieved and amazed I felt.
The next day, although I was still pretty tired, it was a different kind of tired to what I was used to, which was so exciting. A few days after that, I went for blood tests again and three days later I went for my six-month check-up. The first thing my doctor said to me when I walked into her room was: “I have to confirm that you did not take your Covocort before having these blood tests [because that would have affected the results].” I told her I hadn’t, and she said that my cortisol levels had gone from somewhere in the 60s to 326. Anything above 250 was satisfactory. I stopped taking my Covocort and then went for another blood test a month later to check that everything was still fine. My second test showed that my cortisol levels were 319. This was the medical confirmation of what I already knew – that God had healed me! That was five years ago and my cortisol levels remain very good.
Kaley, by email
Blank canvas
This last year I felt the Lord tell me to go back to my ‘roots’. After living in America for four years I thought that just meant going back to England. However, God had a very different plan. He asked me to return for three months without a plan, with a metaphorical ‘blank canvas’. Little did I know what he might create as a result. With anticipation, I arrived in London. It ended up being the most extraordinary year of seeing the Lord’s hands in the most stunning ways, which I could never have planned or expected. The tapestry I feel like I have watched unfold has been so interlinked with past roots, family roots and personal routes I’ve previously taken. It has been wild.
It’s hard to know where to start, but I’ll share the significance of a painting I sold at an event, David’s Tent. It was a piece I had started six years before and had painted my foot and placed it in the middle of the canvas and then written “take a step of faith” around it. It was a raw piece of art about how the Lord saw me. I had felt him say to take it back to the event six years later to complete it, as a sign that he finishes what he begins! This time I felt him ask me to paint white over the whole thing, as a sign that when we feel like the piece is finished, God adds a whole new layer. As I went to paint over the top, a young girl came over to say: “Oh I thought you were done.” I explained to her that just when we think we are done, God has another plan.
As sad as I was to paint over my artwork, I was amazed the next day to see the footprint and the words showing through. The piece looked even more beautiful than before. Full circle redemption was the theme as I added gold leaf. Then on the last night of the event, someone I met once in America came up to me and asked if I had painted this piece. After a God-ordained conversation, she and her husband bought it. It was a miracle, as that afternoon I had asked God if I was meant to go on a trip, and, if so, said I would need a certain amount of money by the end of the day! I couldn’t believe it, as he had provided the exact amount. I explained this was a seed into my trip and they too were blown away, as they had connections to the land I was going to. Little did I know where this one moment would lead me…
Jessica, by email
What’s your story?
Testimonies are an important way of encouraging each other in faith and we’d love to hear your personal experiences of God, whether that’s a miracle story or Jesus standing with you in the storm.
Email us: womanalive@premier.org.uk
Please include your first name with your correspondence – but do let us know if you want to share anonymously. Entries may be edited for length and clarity.
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