Hello! I took a break and didn't write anything for a few days, although it probably would've helped my perspective looking back. The truth is, I was sick. I had a fever with no symptoms other than the fever itself and a little exhaustion on the side. One of the remarkable things about the auto immune disease attacking my body is the ability to randomly get fevers. Sometimes they last an hour, sometimes they take up to a week but that's not really what I want to write about tonight. I'm going to tell you how I was healed of the most recent fever. It lasted four days.
Let me spare you the details about how I drug my rear end all over the place and cried like an itty bitty baby for those four days and get right to the good part. It really is good! I feel like reminding myself, and all of you, that the reason we can't always see God is because He has gone ahead of us to get the victory. Jesus paid for it so He gets to do whatever He wants in the story. I'm just glad I get to be a part of it, even the parts that I get to suffer a smidge.
For homeschool, we've been in chapters thirteen and fourteen of 1 Samuel this week. Here's a real quick overview; King Saul irritates the Philistine army. All the Israelites become afraid and hide. The Philistines come and take all their weapons and force them to pay for things they need. While Saul is hanging out munching some pomegranates, his son Jonathan gets a wave of boldness and decides to sneak off with his armor bearer to try and take on the Philistines. How many of you know that it would take a wave of boldness directly from the throne in heaven to make you wanna go take on a whole army of big burly dudes with just one other guy? Well, that's what they did and it worked because they had the favor of God. Saul found out about it when he saw the army across the way having a major meltdown, so to speak, and wondered who had gone out from them to do this? He ordered that everyone fast. That's pretty much where we left off.
Last night there was a church service and although I was pretty burned out and didn't feel like going, I knew I wasn't going to get healed sitting around watching the kids pretend to be weather forcasters (homeschooler alert). The fever needed to go away, bigtime. During service I was sitting in my seat and I couldn't get the thought of honey out of my mind? I decided to look ahead to what the girls and I were going to be studying for the next day when I came to the part of the chapter that talks about honey. Some of the Israelites saw what was happening to the Philistines so they decided to join Jonathan in the attack and went into the woods. When they got to the woods, honey miraculously appeared on the ground. Honey, miraculously appeared...on the ground... I was sitting there reading this when I remembered seeing a whole bunch of jars of honey in the pantry of the church. I got up to check because I wasn't sure if I really saw them or if it had been a dream? When I got there, there they were. Lots and lots of jars of honey. I took one down from the shelf, inspected it a bit and just stood there for a minute wondering what the Lord would have me do with a jar of honey? Didn't know what I was going to do with it but I took it back to service with me. It felt like a sign so I uncapped it and set it right in front of the worship team thinking maybe some of the anointing would seep in, then I would eat it and maybe be healed that way? Why not right? What have I got to lose? After service, my dear friend approached me and asked, "What are you going to do with that honey?" I said, "I have no idea." Then, she tells me something that I had not considered. She tells me that honey is a natural immunity booster.
Here's a little "coincidental" rabbit trail. Bees are pretty amazing! I didn't know nearly as much about them as I do now that we spent half a day studying those amazing little creatures! "Coincidentally", my oldest daughter did a lot of research on bees for a speech she gave last week and was able to teach us some too. Also, during the four day fever, one of my feet broke out in eczema and beeswax hand creme was the only thing that would seal it over night! Imagine that?! Yes, my life is blessed.
So your're probably wondering, how does all of this apply to the topic of healing? Well, it all boils down to faith my friends. I did find out how honey is a natural immunity booster and a lot of other facts about bees that I may or may not find useful in my healing but more than anything, I received faith. Faith through believing. You see, when Jonathan saw the honey, he immediately dipped his staff in it and ate and it perked him up right away. The others were afraid to eat it because of the fast that King Saul had instituted. Jonathan wasn't around to hear his dad declare the fast because he had gone ahead to do what the Lord had called him too. Because he was faithful, the Lord provided him with honey to replenish him and sustain him through the fight. God is faithful to those that are faithful to Him! If God is the same yesterday, today and forever, wouldn't He still use the same signs now that He did then? I believe that the honey I found in the church was a sign for me that God will provide for my every need during this fight. He knows all about it and has a purpose even, for it. During those four days, what I needed more than anything was faith. Once it was delivered, the fever broke.
True maturity in Christ, I think, is being willing to walk through the shadow of the valley of death, unafraid, having full confidence in faith that God will deliver. Moreover, to embrace the suffering in that crucible in order to join with Christ Jesus for fellowship in His adversity. Jonathan was the mature one in the father-son relationship. He was willing to climb and embrace the cliff of death in order to become free from the oppression of the Philistines while his father stubbornly refused to humble himself. I want the kind of faith that Jonathan had when he said, "Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few." That's the kind of faith that sets whole nations free, that's the kind of faith we need for healing.
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