Miracle or Crazy?
Scrolling through social media the other day I came across a post from Amanda Grace with Ark of Grace Ministries, “You can not have an encounter with the Living God and not be changed.” I can say I felt every bit of each word written. Some may be asking themselves right now how in the world do you have an encounter with God or hear his voice. Well, before my first encounter where God clearly rebuked me, I had been reading my Bible several times I week. I prayed a lot and even now, often leave my line of communication open throughout the day with God. Some talk to themselves on the regular, I talk to God. I even tell Him when I’m angry with Him or I don’t understand why things are unfolding the way they are. The more I study the word and research the things I feel in my spirit the more I recognize His guidance. He may be talking to you, but you don’t hear because there’s too much in your ears already...something to think about.
When God snapped, “WHY ARE YOU IN FEAR?!?” at me I did a
complete 180! In John 10 Jesus shares a parable about the Good Shepherd. A shepherd’s
sheep knows his voice and a stranger they will not follow. I knew God’s voice
immediately and was shook to my core. If you didn’t read my last post, I encourage
you to do so to better understand the context of this post. That moment with
God was pivotal for me. In fact, I got up early the following morning, attended
the volunteer huddle at church, greeted everyone who walked through the doors
with love and praised God with my whole heart.
That evening, I went to see Amir. He struggled to walk over
to me due to the pain in his pastern. This time, rather than cry I began
praying for him. I prayed for Amir’s healing. I prayed for God to remove any
pain Amir was feeling and for the calcium bone growth on his pastern to completely
dissolve. I asked all this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ! God wouldn’t
have rebuked me had He not wanted me to exercise my faith in a powerful way.
It was Wednesday afternoon, a week since Amir’s previous
lameness exam. Dr. Dave came to the barn with his technician and x-ray machine.
A couple friends at the barn came to show their support. Our horses are family
and are dearly loved. Amir was still limping a bit but he wasn’t struggling
like before. He could trot, though he didn’t look comfortable. Dr. Dave
recognized the progress and stated Amir wasn’t the same horse he saw the
previous week. I smiled. I remember looking at Dr. Dave and confidently saying,
“God is going to heal my horse.” I’m pretty sure Dr. Dave thought I was crazy (still
does) but I’m ok with it.
We blocked out the light in one of the horse stalls. Amir
was a good boy and stood patiently for the x-rays. Dr. Dave told me to come by
his office in 45 minutes so he would walk me through what he finds on the x-rays.
I could tell Dr. Dave had already prepared himself to give me bad news. I didn’t
let it phase me. I kept my eyes on God and for the next half hour I loved on
Amir and thanked God for his faithfulness.
When I arrived at the clinic Dr. Dave walked me back to show
me the x-rays. He was in shock! All he could say was, “THIS IS NOT AT ALL WHAT
I SAW LAST WEEK!!” He just kept staring at the pictures on the screen. He showed
me where he expected to see the ringbone. The x-rays were completely clean! No
growth. No fuzziness around the bones. No fractures.
Could Dr. Dave have misdiagnosed? I don’t believe so. Dr.
Dave has focused on horses and large animals for over 30 years. He has worked
with racehorses, show horses, rodeo horses, senior horses. He’s delivered
calves to horses, cows and other large animals. I have come to respect Dr. Dave
because he doesn’t resort to putting a bandaid on a problem with quick fix remedies that become nightmares down
the road. Dr. Dave will exhaust all other options before doing anything
invasive on the animal. He even worked with my farrier. The two of them would
discuss what they each saw with Amir and formulate a rehabilitation plan together.
Dr. Dave is all about doing what is best for the animal. That’s why I have
never gone searching for second and third opinions.
I saw how shocked Dr. Dave was while reviewing Amir’s x-rays.
I saw his expression. He couldn’t understand how the ringbone wasn’t there. His
intellect may have reasoned away the possibilities of what the injury could
have been, but I know my encounter with God. I know the prayers I said after my
encounter with God. I also know that all the research I have found online had
shown ringbone that had progressed can be seen and felt by running your hand
over it. It would be like seeing a tumor bulge on an arm for example. You see
something that isn’t supposed to be there. Only in situations where the ringbone
is advanced enough will a veterinarian (especially Dr. Dave) tell an owner the
horse will need to be retired. I believe Dr. Dave definitely felt bone growth
on Amir’s pastern. Even if it was a fracture rather than ringbone, it would
have shown up on the x-ray.
People, mainly adults, are intellectual beings. We must always have an explanation for everything. It’s so easy for us to explain away anything supernatural. Maybe it’s the stigma of mentally ill people who hear voices and see things we believe aren’t there. Honestly, I think had I not have been studying my bible…had I not have been exposed to God moving in other people’s lives in undeniable ways…had God not have used other people to confirm what he was telling me…had it not have been for God rebuking me just days before Amir’s x-rays were taken…had I not have prayed the prayers I prayed BECAUSE God rebuked me I would have explained the miracle away, too. I wouldn’t have given God glory for it. God knew my heart. God knew I loved Him so He made sure I could see for myself who He is. God had to correct me so I could not only see who He is but so that I could step into who He needs me to grow into.
I want to be clear. Just because I am a God fearing
Christian does not mean I don’t face hardships and adversity. In fact, seven
weeks after God healed Amir my mom died. I was so sure God was going to heal
her. I will share that story and the blessings that came out of it at a later
time. A I just want you to know that Jesus never said we wouldn’t face
calamity, the world hated Him first. But if we love Jesus, seek God and pray,
we won’t go through adversity by ourselves.
Three and a half years later I am happy to share that I ride
Amir regularly. I’ve taken him on trail rides, I lunge him, he runs hard in the
pastures with his other gelding friends. He has discovered how fun mud is and
will roll in it. He loves his treat ball!! Amir knows when we’re done working
he gets spa time and his treat ball filled with apple and peppermint treats. He
is truly living his best life. Dr. Dave came to give Amir his spring vaccines
last month and claimed this is the best Amir has ever looked since I got him. I
couldn’t agree more!...And, that injury has never resurfaced.
God bless!
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