by Rhonda Butz
My husband and I planned to have dinner guests after church one Sunday. We had invited a couple from church to come to our home on one particular Sunday. Due to our schedules being quite full, this was the only Sunday that would work for us over about a 6-week period. So we were looking forward to spending time with this couple on that set date. During the week just before that Sunday, I had to work part-time at a local flower shop. That Friday, as I was working, I started to feel some symptoms that became more and more noticeable throughout the day. My throat started to hurt. I was feeling exhausted and weak. My muscles began to ache. By the end of my workday, I was feeling pretty bad. All I wanted to do was go home to bed.
The next morning, I woke up to a mess of full-blown cold & flu symptoms: stuffy head, achy muscles, headache, zero energy. I didn’t feel like doing ANYTHING! But we were having dinner guests the next day, and I had much to prepare. My concern was whether or not I should cancel our invitation due to these symptoms. I certainly didn’t want to share my germs with anyone. I sure didn’t feel like preparing any meals or cleaning my home. But at the same time, I knew that if I canceled, we would have another opportunity to have these same guests for dinner. All I felt like doing at that point was just lying on the sofa in my living room. It was Saturday morning, and my youngest daughter, Kayla, was up and watching cartoons on TV. So I laid there and watched episodes of Sponge Bob with her. While I was lying in my pajamas and robe, healing scriptures that I had been studying and speaking over the last year or so were going through my mind. I wasn’t thinking about healing – I hadn’t been thinking about anything – I was just watching Sponge Bob with Kayla.
But these scriptures kept coming to my mind. “Surely He bore our sicknesses and carried our pains, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him and by His stripes, we are healed.(Isa. 53:4-5)” “And He healed all that were sick that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet Isaiah saying, “Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses. (Mat. 8:16-17)” “Who his own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness, by His stripes we were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. (Gal. 3:13)” My focus became these scriptures. As I thought about them, I said to myself, “Hey, wait a minute. Jesus bore ALL sicknesses on the cross– that includes this virus that I am battling. I don’t want to cancel our plans with our friends from church due to sickness. I don’t have to have this sickness.”
Normally, it would have to run it’s course over several days to a week or two. “But, God, you said Jesus bore this for me, so I don’t have to have it. Well, if I am healed, I would be getting up off this sofa and going about my day to make preparations for our dinner guests.” Now, at this time, I did not “feel” like doing anything. I felt too sick to even move; however, I knew if I remained lying there, the virus would just run its course as usual and I would have to heal over several days or weeks.
So I decided at that moment to believe God at His Word. I commanded that sickness to leave my body in the Name of Jesus. I said, “Thank you, God, that I AM healed.” I got off that sofa, tore off my robe, and headed for a shower to start my day. I acted what I believed. As I stood there in the shower bathing, it suddenly occurred to me that there was no more achiness in my muscles, my headache was gone, and there was no more stuffiness in my head. I realized that all those symptoms I had just moments earlier disappeared instantly. I had renewed strength. I could do all the work necessary to prepare for our guests the next day. It took most of my day to complete the tasks, but I was not tired one bit throughout the rest of the day. And we could have our guests for dinner as planned on Sunday.
During this healing process, God showed me that His Word is true, but it takes our cooperation; it takes us believing and acting on God’s Word to see the physical manifestation of His Word in our bodies. I am so thankful to God for teaching me these truths. I have been able to apply these truths to my life with supernatural results again and again. God’s Word works! All praise to Him!