I know Jehovah Rafa.
You may be wondering how I know Jehovah Rafa. I will tell you we are still getting acquainted but let me share what I know of this One I call Healer.
I remember hearing of His miracles from the time I was little, acting out the healing stories of the Gospels for church programs, singing about the lame man who went "walking and leaping and praising God." Marveling at stories of handkerchiefs that had been anointed and sent around the world to heal the sick. I heard of my grandmother who died delivering her ninth child. She stayed dead for 15 minutes then came back to life. And though I believed the stories, I never saw with my own eyes. Even on the four mission trips I got to take out of the country, I was never "in the right place at the right time" to see The Healer at work.
Maybe I've been like the blind man, not doubting His ability but saying "if you are willing...". I've sought out the Word on this subject, seeking to experience the truth, live with "these signs following those who believe", and see if He is willing. "I do believe, help my unbelief."
I find that He responds "I am willing."
I read "ALL who touched Him were healed."
Have I been healed?
Have I touched Him?
Sometimes it takes pushing through the crowd and refusing to give up until we reach his side. Like the woman with the issue of blood. Like the man lowered on a mat through the ceiling. Like the people standing all day without food in a remote place.
There was the time my back hurt so bad I couldn't carry my backpack loaded with geometry, government and English. I attended a Friday night praise and pray service I loved to go to, but this time I couldn't enter in like I like to because I was so distracted by my back. After a song or two of sitting in pain I said "Enough! I will bring a sacrifice of praise." As I stood and took the first step to dance, the pain disappeared.
There was the morning I woke with one of those intense cricks in the neck that leave you stiff and unable to turn your head for hours or even days. I took up my Bible, notebook, pen and coffee, as is my custom, and headed to That Place. After trying to "enter in" for some time I finally gave up in tears. My neck just hurt too much to think. I let my head drop on my arms on the table and He entered in.
It felt as though a hot metal ball covered in oil was dropped into my neck at the base of my skull. It slowly moved down the aggravated muscle, down my neck and all the way across my shoulder and off ever so slowly, like His finger doing one stroke of massage and everywhere the stroke touched the pain lifted. When it was over the pain was gone.
Years passed and I continued to seek Jehovah Rafa. Children were born. Child number 4 came and developed RSV, a severe respiratory virus for a three month old. She spent 5 days in the hospital rasping for breath. Two more times over the next 18 months we spent 5 days in the hospital battling to breath. Countless times at home we used a breathing machine and prayed over our sweet little girl as she struggled to breathe. Then one night we saw the familiar signs. Another attack was coming on.
Gary and I stayed up till 11:00 praying over her and praying we wouldn't end up in the hospital again. We determined in our hearts to trust the Healer and worship. Gary went on to bed then and I held our little girl. I sang songs of praise and deliverance over her and declared victory. I spoke her name over her which means "royal victory" and "purpose" and "God is my strength." I declared that because God was her strength she would come through with a royal victory and live the life of purpose God has for her. About six in the morning Gary took back over and I dropped exhausted into bed. That morning a few hours later, God gave me wisdom to give her some of the breastmilk I had pumped for her little sister. I did. The sickness broke. She told us "God healed me. I feeled Him in my heart." Praise the Lord! She has not been on the breathing machine or back to the hospital since!
Yes, I have met Jehovah Rafa. I have experienced Him at work. Even in ways more subtle, I have the seen The Great Physician at work through "preventive medicine".
My Grandmother's nine children grew to adulthood and had children of their own. My parents had four healthy children. We have all married and have children of our own. Fourteen grandchildren for my parents. God has been faithful to our family. There are none with severe or chronic illnesses. There are none with disabilities. We have not experienced untimely death. Unexpected tragedies have been far from us. Even "seasonal" illnesses are rare. This is His handiwork.
I have prayed over others and had them report their pain ceased. I became a massage therapist so I could "lay hands on the sick and see them healed". And though I have learned some of the tricks of the trade, I know it is not often my hands that bring the healing (if ever), it is His.
This is my testimony. Jehovah Rafa is Healer. He is life and by His stripes we have been healed.
These are the Words of My Testimony.
You may be wondering how I know Jehovah Rafa. I will tell you we are still getting acquainted but let me share what I know of this One I call Healer.
I remember hearing of His miracles from the time I was little, acting out the healing stories of the Gospels for church programs, singing about the lame man who went "walking and leaping and praising God." Marveling at stories of handkerchiefs that had been anointed and sent around the world to heal the sick. I heard of my grandmother who died delivering her ninth child. She stayed dead for 15 minutes then came back to life. And though I believed the stories, I never saw with my own eyes. Even on the four mission trips I got to take out of the country, I was never "in the right place at the right time" to see The Healer at work.
Maybe I've been like the blind man, not doubting His ability but saying "if you are willing...". I've sought out the Word on this subject, seeking to experience the truth, live with "these signs following those who believe", and see if He is willing. "I do believe, help my unbelief."
I find that He responds "I am willing."
I read "ALL who touched Him were healed."
Have I been healed?
Have I touched Him?
Sometimes it takes pushing through the crowd and refusing to give up until we reach his side. Like the woman with the issue of blood. Like the man lowered on a mat through the ceiling. Like the people standing all day without food in a remote place.
There was the time my back hurt so bad I couldn't carry my backpack loaded with geometry, government and English. I attended a Friday night praise and pray service I loved to go to, but this time I couldn't enter in like I like to because I was so distracted by my back. After a song or two of sitting in pain I said "Enough! I will bring a sacrifice of praise." As I stood and took the first step to dance, the pain disappeared.
There was the morning I woke with one of those intense cricks in the neck that leave you stiff and unable to turn your head for hours or even days. I took up my Bible, notebook, pen and coffee, as is my custom, and headed to That Place. After trying to "enter in" for some time I finally gave up in tears. My neck just hurt too much to think. I let my head drop on my arms on the table and He entered in.
It felt as though a hot metal ball covered in oil was dropped into my neck at the base of my skull. It slowly moved down the aggravated muscle, down my neck and all the way across my shoulder and off ever so slowly, like His finger doing one stroke of massage and everywhere the stroke touched the pain lifted. When it was over the pain was gone.
Years passed and I continued to seek Jehovah Rafa. Children were born. Child number 4 came and developed RSV, a severe respiratory virus for a three month old. She spent 5 days in the hospital rasping for breath. Two more times over the next 18 months we spent 5 days in the hospital battling to breath. Countless times at home we used a breathing machine and prayed over our sweet little girl as she struggled to breathe. Then one night we saw the familiar signs. Another attack was coming on.
Gary and I stayed up till 11:00 praying over her and praying we wouldn't end up in the hospital again. We determined in our hearts to trust the Healer and worship. Gary went on to bed then and I held our little girl. I sang songs of praise and deliverance over her and declared victory. I spoke her name over her which means "royal victory" and "purpose" and "God is my strength." I declared that because God was her strength she would come through with a royal victory and live the life of purpose God has for her. About six in the morning Gary took back over and I dropped exhausted into bed. That morning a few hours later, God gave me wisdom to give her some of the breastmilk I had pumped for her little sister. I did. The sickness broke. She told us "God healed me. I feeled Him in my heart." Praise the Lord! She has not been on the breathing machine or back to the hospital since!
Yes, I have met Jehovah Rafa. I have experienced Him at work. Even in ways more subtle, I have the seen The Great Physician at work through "preventive medicine".
My Grandmother's nine children grew to adulthood and had children of their own. My parents had four healthy children. We have all married and have children of our own. Fourteen grandchildren for my parents. God has been faithful to our family. There are none with severe or chronic illnesses. There are none with disabilities. We have not experienced untimely death. Unexpected tragedies have been far from us. Even "seasonal" illnesses are rare. This is His handiwork.
I have prayed over others and had them report their pain ceased. I became a massage therapist so I could "lay hands on the sick and see them healed". And though I have learned some of the tricks of the trade, I know it is not often my hands that bring the healing (if ever), it is His.
This is my testimony. Jehovah Rafa is Healer. He is life and by His stripes we have been healed.
These are the Words of My Testimony.