Healing of my Knees

It’s time to give glory to God by sharing my testimony about the work God has done in my knees.  As you may remember from a previous blog post (Bait and Switch), I received a prophetic word that “God would heal my wounds completely”.  Considering I was there to pray for the healing of my knees which were causing me great pain, this prophetic word really touched me.  Yet, time passed and I didn’t see any changes.  Late last year I realized that I was not approaching my healing from a position of real faith, in fact I was appalled to realize that I had accepted the idea that surgery would someday be inevitable due to a catastrophic failure of one or both of my knees, and that I would somehow receive God’s healing through that event in the form of a skilled surgeon.  It also bothered me deeply that Rebecca was very concerned that I would not be able to enjoy my grand kids or our golden years together due to difficulty with mobility.  It gave me added resolve so seek after this healing so late last year I again had a prayer team pray for me the healing of my knees.  One of the things this prayer team challenged me to do was to consider that Jesus has already secured my healing, and all I had to do was to receive it.  Books and books have been written about this subject, but as far as I can tell, they pretty much boil down to a few points:

1. God loves his children more than any parent ever could ever love their children.   When a child scrapes a knee, doesn’t the parent do everything possible to reduce the pain, help the healing, and take away the tears?  How much more so then, would a heavenly father for whom all things are possible, care for us when we scrape our knees.
2. Christ’s death on the cross was not just for our salvation, but it was the complete healing of our mind, body, and spirit.  Christ’s death nullified the curse brought on by the fall of Adam and Eve for those who believe in him.
3. Christ taught us to pray that what is true in heaven would also be true on earth.  Therefore, because there is no pain in heaven, it is sub-standard to accept pain in the body of a believer.  It is not from God, it is not God’s will, and God wants to remove that pain from all of his children.  Unfortunately for God, doing miracles is easy and quick, but changing the hearts and minds of the creation who he freely gave free will is a process that takes time and cooperation.

Although I had no glorious moment of instant healing that iconify revivals, and although I on occasion I still experience some discomfort, I have seen AMAZING improvement that I am so excited about!  My knees literally haven’t felt this good since I was about 16 years old!

But I’m a skeptic, through and through.  I didn’t want to blog about a healing without KNOWING that God was at work.  So I told myself that I would trust in the Lord, put this healing to the test, and wait until the end of the next volleyball season to make a determination.  I went cold turkey:  no knee braces, no ibuprofen, no glucosamine, no whining.   I continue to be amazed by how good my knees are feeling before, during, and after the games.  No longer do a feel excruciating pain trying to get warmed up.  No longer do I feel crippled on the court, jumping gingerly off whichever leg happens to feel stronger that day.  No longer does it take me 1 to 2 weeks to walk without a limp without after a volleyball match.  Now I only feel minor swelling and discomfort for about a day or two.

I can move faster, jump higher and push myself harder than I have since high school, and my knees survived the entire season without any man-made assistance, and without any major discomfort!  Praise God, halleluiah, thank you Jesus!

Unfortunately I can’t say I’m 100% pain free.  My knees (particularly my right knee) does still get some swelling, my knees do continue to pop on a regular basis, and I do get stiff when sitting for a long periods of time.  Because of this, I am still hoping for the fulfillment of the prophetic promise given to me that God would heal my wounds completely.  No pain, no swelling, no popping, no fear that my next game could bring the catastrophic failure.

But I can say again that my knees feel fantastic by all comparisons, and part of me wonders what expectations are realistic?  Even if God himself gave me a notarized document saying my knees had been fully healed, what level of discomfort should a healthy individual expect after an evening game of volleyball?  Just like when I do a chest exercise, I know my chest is going to be sore because I worked those muscles.  How do I know what soreness is okay and what soreness is caused by other problems?  Doesn’t seem right to expect God to heal me more than should be allowed by a normal human body.

On a different note, some people believe that all pain, discomfort, temptation, etc., has a spiritual component to it.  If you’re little finger hurts, it must be some demons are trying to get a hold of you, or perhaps you committed a sin of omission.  I think evil spirits can physically torment us, particularly unbelievers, but I also believe that we have complex physical bodies and sometimes things happen that cause them to have physical pain, no evil spirits involved.  But interesting enough, I have found on multiple occasions that when my knee was feeling particularly bad a quick prayer of truths spoken from the bible has relieved discomfort.  Do I think my knees are a spiritual issue?  No, but I do think the attitude of the heart is very much a spiritual issue and is ultimately what God is interested in.  God wants you to come to him, to hang out, to rely on him, and I have experienced first hand that praying to him in the moment is an effective way of reducing pain.

Some of you might say, “But Nate, you’ve been working out and losing weight, maybe your knees are just feeling better because you’re in better physical condition.”  That is a possibility, and in fact I think there’s probably some truth to that, perhaps God IS giving me the motivation, perseverance and strength to continue my workouts with the express purpose of removing the pain from my knees.  Even if that is God’s plan and means, halleluiah because it’s working!

But I also know that I’ve had bad pain in my knees throughout most of my life, even when I was in excellent physical condition.  So that argument of “you’re just in better shape” really doesn’t hold water because their have been other times in my life when I’ve been in better shape and had the benefit of youthfulness.  If my knees are feeling better now than they did then, then I must conclude that it is the work of God!

Thank you Jesus for caring so much about me that you hear my prayers, that you put other people in my life to speak words of truth and healing into me, that you give me your Spirit to receive those truths as my own.  Thank you that because you love me you have healed my knees.  Let me never forget what you have done for me, and always be excited to share this testimony with others,

Nate