OK, God Heals Whiplash Too

It certainly has been a while since I posted here, but that’s what having a toddler will do.  A true blessing from God who I’m doing my best to raise in the nurture and admonition of the Word.

I can’t help comparing his trust of his daddy as an representation of the trust we must have in God.  When he wakes up at night as he does sometimes, wanting comfort, his expression when I walk into the room is priceless.

His big hug around my neck when I pick him up signifies such love and trust..  “Daddy’s here, Daddy’s here…it’s OK now….”

We ought to trust God the same way, no, even more.  When we call to Him, He hears and comes to us when we cry out to Him, He reaches out to us by His Holy Spirit who lives in us.

He picks us up, comforts us and reassures us that we’ll be OK despite the nightmare we’re having.  We must learn to trust in Him.

Psalm 17:6 says;
I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.

He answers when we call. This is a learned thing though, spiritually. We call and then too often, either despair or instantly begin to look for human solutions to our issues.

I had such an event months ago. On a trip to California, I was walking to the parking lot of the hotel I was staying in to get something from the car. There was a badly designed step down that I failed to see and jerked back my head as I stepped down unexpectedly.

I wouldn’t advise this for anyone.

Of course, I suffered whiplash as my neck was jerked back and for the next few weeks I had severe pain around my neck and shoulders. I have a theory about why our minds almost always go to the worst a situation could be when we feel a pain or ache, but that’s for another post.

Low-grade torment is what I call it. Not enough for daily painkillers, but seemingly never ending. I had one doctor’s appointment, but no joy. Painkillers were suggested, but I passed on that.

Lest you think I didn’t pray, I had prayed immediately this happened, but no results were forthcoming, hence the doctor’s visit. After the visit to the doctor, I decided I wasn’t going to live with pain any more. Especially since Jesus paid the price for it.

Here’s the thing, many of us just haven’t decided we’re going to take a determined God-stand against illness. My old friend from Uganda told me about a paraplegic high school friend of his who decided one day to ask his buddies to take him deep into the bush and leave him there, under no circumstances to return.

“If God heals me, I’ll walk out and if He doesn’t, I’ll die,” was his statement.

With fearful hearts, they did what he said, left him and waited. A couple nerve-wracking days later, he walked out of the bush. Praise God.

Alright, my decision was not that dramatic, but I do recall taking a stand, praying and reminding God of his promises. And…the big one … fully expecting healing.

You know, there wasn’t one ‘aha!’ moment or angels or visions, but a few days later, I noticed the pain was gone, never to return. What a big God we serve.

Oh yeah, there’s always those who will say “It was going to resolve anyway, it was just coincidence!”

To them them I quote Sir William Temple (1628 – 1699), English statesman and essayist, who said:

“When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don’t, they don’t.“

So, take a stand. What have you got to lose, except troubles, sickness, and anguish?  God wants to answer our prayers more than we want Him to.  Especially if they concern things He has promised.  Like my son, I can hold my hands wide open and say “Thank you, Daddy“, fully confident He is for me, He hears me and will answer my prayers.