The Joy of Healing
by Patricia Lake
Although he didn’t know it yet, the long-awaited day of freedom had dawned for the man who sat daily at the gate of the temple called ‘Beautiful’. In Acts 3:2, the Scripture reveals he was lame from birth, and so, as far as he was concerned, all hopes and dreams of what might have been, had long disappeared as he looked longingly at others. His only hope of survival up until then was dependent on the goodwill and generosity of others. But God had more in store for this man than he could ever have imagined.
On this particular day, the humdrum moments of hopelessness were soon to be dispelled from his life, as the servants of the living God were passing by on their way into the temple. As usual, his own thoughts were no doubt centred around how much money they could give him, but, nevertheless, he wasted no time in asking for their help.
First, the not so good news. They didn’t have any money. Oh! You can almost sense his heart beginning to waver, as disappointment knocked on the door of his thoughts. But wait, they had something else, something better! Suddenly, the name that is above every name was mentioned, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”
Suddenly, the flashpoint of life pierced his darkness, as heaven and earth collided in this never to be forgotten moment of his life. Not only did his feet and ankle bones receive strength, but something changed in him and in his whole demeanour. Joy and hope surged through his whole being as never before. He sprang to his feet and entered the temple ‘walking and leaping and praising God’. At the gate Beautiful, God had restored the joy of his life and given him beauty for ashes.
The Bible declares, ‘Eye hath not seen, neither ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love him’.
Maybe the circumstances of life have not been kind to you. You don’t know why certain things have happened and you can’t see a way out. But Jesus will make a way, for He is The Way. In your hour of need He will break through in the most unexpected way. He is our Healer and Restorer, Deliverer and Friend, and just as He did for the cripple at the gate Beautiful, He will surprise you and make all things new.
Patricia Lake is now Ellel’s Representative in Curacao, in the Dutch West Indies, where she is now living, having served with Ellel Ministries as Peter Horrobin’s Secretary for almost 20 years. Prior to that she was in ministry in her local Pentecostal church in Birmingham, before feeling the call of God to serve in the healing and deliverance ministry at Ellel Grange in the northwest of England.
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