By Monica Schlange
I got so excited recently when I was listening to Pastor Paul’s sermon about Jesus healing a paralyzed man because it immediately reminded me of a God story from a couple years back.
I remember it vividly in part because it happened just two weeks before my granddaughter was to be born. I had a sore throat that came on and I was panicked because if I was sick when she was born I’d have to wait to see her. I checked my throat and there it was: a white blob on one side. Nooooo! I was so frustrated. But the next day I was feeling fine. I checked my throat and the white part was still there. Strange. I was thankful though that I was feeling fine. Over the next few months I would continue to check and that white blob was still there. That doesn’t seem ideal.
Months later I had a strange rash on my nose so I went to the clinic and figured while I was there I’d have the Doctor look at the white blob too. Well, he basically did nothing about the rash (which cleared up shortly after) but immediately referred me to a specialist for my throat. He was very concerned. This made me panic, knowing that someone would have to stick something down my throat.
I began praying asking the Lord to please just make the white blob go away. He didn’t. That didn’t bother me too much. Sometimes in my prayers I’m like a little kid who wants ice cream: “Please, Oh please, God! Please, Oh please!” But each time I’d go to the Lord about this I felt like He was leading me to ask my (at the time) 16 year old son Noah to pray that it would be healed. Now you have to understand, Noah (who gave me permission to share this story) wasn’t so sure about what he believed about God and how He works today. This made me VERY hesitant about asking Noah to pray for me. What if God hadn’t led me to ask Noah? If I was wrong Noah would pray but I probably wouldn’t be healed and it would negatively affect Noah’s faith. But I felt like God kept nudging my heart, plus the Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist kept calling to schedule an appointment.
I finally went to Noah and explained what was going on and asked him to pray for my throat. He hesitated. “Mom, I don’t know if I believe that God does that. I don’t have the faith.” God brought scriptures to mind like what we learned about a few Sundays ago. “That’s okay,” I told him, “sometimes in the Bible Jesus healed people based on someone else’s faith, and I believe He still heals.” By God’s grace I’d seen God heal people before.
So Noah hesitantly wrapped his sweaty basketball hands around my neck and prayed a short prayer asking God to heal my throat. We looked and the white blob was still there. “That’s okay,” I told him. “I’m almost certain you were supposed to pray. Maybe you can pray for me again later this week.” Noah agreed to do so.
Two more times Noah prayed for me. After the second time Noah left for the evening. Before he got home I looked again at my throat. THE WHITE SPOT WAS GONE! I gasped! I got a flashlight and as soon as Noah walked in the door I handed it to him and told him to look at my throat. He did and just stood stunned. We were both amazed at God!
Days later I looked at my throat again just to be reminded of what happened. And to my dismay the white blob was coming back! I was so confused. I didn’t want to tell Noah but God is a God of truth and He is capable of anything so I wasn’t going to hide this. We were going to grow in our faith or learn more about God together.
The next day we shared with our community group about what all went on, hoping that someone else would have some testimony or wisdom about it all. At the end of the night a friend came to me and said “As you shared your story I just felt like the Lord kept showing me that Noah needed to pray seven times.” That sounded weird. Why seven? But also, what would it hurt to have Noah pray four more times? So I shared that with Noah and he agreed that he’d pray for my throat once a day for the next four days. On day four the white blob was gone again, God healed it completely. I was relieved to contact the ENT Specialist to let them know I would no longer need their services. Thank you, Lord!
And since then? Noah’s faith has increased so very much. He has stepped out in boldness to pray for many other people for various things like healing, faith, encouragement and more. I’m still blown away by how God used Noah. What a beautiful gift this was to me as his Mom. I’m so thankful to the Lord for not only healing me but also increasing Noah’s faith in our good, good Father God!
What God did in the Bible He is still doing today. What is He calling you to? Give Him your yes. You won’t regret it!