My journey was life-changing. I know that for many Christians we no longer perform pilgrimmages as part of our worship of the one true and living God. Many might not classify this trip I took as an actual pilgrimmage since it wasn’t to somewhere like the Vatican City or to Jerusalem (al-Quds).
But, if you consider the motivation, the place chosen, and what took place, there is nothing else close to describe what happened.
- Motivation: I was looking for an opportunity to experience God and worship Him.
- The Place: Bethel Church in Redding has been experiencing a rather special outpouring of God’s presence. Yes I did have a small amount of “skeptical openness”, but this quickly changed as I saw God at work firsthand.
- What Happened: I saw a number of healings and miracles take place that cannot be currently scientifically explained. I saw a man who could not bend at the waist because he had metal rods in his back receive healing which allowed him to fully bend at the waist and touch his toes. I saw a woman who came in with an oxygen tank and who could hardly breathe freely lay down her tank and then run up and down about 20 flights of stairs completely healed. I also saw a woman whose right leg was significantly shorter than her left grow out right before my eyes the closest thing I can compare it to would be if you were to apply even pressure to a tube of toothpaste and watch it come out evenly. What I saw was not humanly possible without the presence of God changing and healing people.
On Saturday I went to the healing room they have at the church. As soon as I walked in there was this “heavy” feeling in the room–not heavy in the sense that something bad happened, but rather heavy in the sense that God’s glory was weighing down in the room (that’s the closest thing I can describe it to). This happened again on Sunday (day seven). At one point during my time there the weight was so heavy I couldn’t stand up.
As I was laying on the ground someone else prayed for me and said to me that God told them that He wanted me to enter the current of the river, to trust Him and not be afraid. As he said this I began to weep because there was no way that the man who was praying for me could know that that was the image I have been carrying for the last three or so years. I saw myself along a river bank holding on to the side not wanting to let the current take me, but knowing that’s what God wants me to do–let go!
So, I knew that God had to be speaking to this man because only God knew of this picture of my life. Wow! Amazing.
So now I am journeying home, changed forever. I realize now how much a naturalistic worldview has influenced my expression of faith. Although I believe in miracles that took place in the holy Bible, I don’t think I believed that they still take place today, nor that God would pour out His presence so strongly that I wouldn’t even be able to stand! But, after this trip I can think of no other explanation to describe what I have seen and experienced. God really is as good as the holy books say that He is. He is real, He is present, He is active, and He wants people to encounter Him and know personally not just intellectually how much He loves us all. The toughest thing is to receive this, it’s almost unbelievable that the Creator of the universe would be mindful of us. Wow!
Posted by najashi 
