Because of that attitude, when a big obstacle arises in my life, the first thing I say is, “Well, it’s miracle time. It’s time to grow. It’s time to get in the Word of God.” I had to learn that early in my ministry because I faced some situations where a miracle was the only thing that was going to get me through.
I’ll never forget one particular time, just after my brother-in-law, Jules, was saved. He was a very successful lawyer and through Cathy’s and my witness, he had come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Of course, we’d
told him about the healing power and promises of God and as baby Christians usually do he just believed without question and said, “Wow! That’s great!”
I was getting ready to preach a meeting one night when my brother-in-law called me. He said a woman had come into his office who had been in an accident in the restaurant where she worked. She had been paralyzed as a result of it and wanted to sue the restaurant.
Jules said, “Well, lady, you have two choices. We can take the legal route and get you a lot of money…or you can go with me to my brother-in-law Jesse’s meeting tonight and get healed. Which do you want?” She said, “Well, I guess I’ll go to the meeting.”
So Jules called me and said, “Jesse, I’m bringing this paralyzed woman tonight and I’ve told her she’ll get healed. That’s right, isn’t it?” I assured him that was right and then after I hung up, I said, “God, what are we going to do?” You see, I had a problem because I had seen some people get healed and some not.
We’re at the Promised Land, Jess, God answered. Are we going to walk across or are we going to drag this paralyzed woman back to the desert and bury her?
That night I preached as long as I could. (I was hoping she might get tired and go home.) Finally, I couldn’t put it off any longer and I said, “All right, it’s time for God to heal.” When Jules brought the woman up front, I determined to pray for her as quietly as possible so as not to attract any attention. But Jules had other ideas.
“HEY, EVERYBODY!” He called out. “WATCH! GOD’S GOING TO HEAL THIS WOMAN. OK, Jesse, now do it.”
That woman was a candidate for a miracle and so was I! I tried to make things easier by closing my eyes while I prayed for her but the Lord said, Open your eyes. “No!” I answered. Open your eyes, Jesse!
So I opened my eyes, told the woman God was going to heal her and then prayed with every fiber of my being. All of sudden wham! both her hands went up in the air, she was knocked down by the power of the Holy Ghost, and was totally, miraculously healed!
You may think that’s an unusual incident. And, to some it might be. But you and I serve an unusual God, and we should expect the unusual to be “the usual” in our lives. Why? Because we are candidates for a miracle.
I want to burn that phrase into your mind. I want it to so mark your thinking that any time you have trouble from now on, instead of slipping automatically into despair, you’ll follow the instructions God gave to Joshua. You’ll get into the Word of God and not turn from it to the left or to the right. You’ll go to bed reading it. You’ll get up reading it. You’ll meditate on it until you digest all the nutrients in it and it fills you with the power of God.
You’ll say boldly, “No, I’m not giving up, praise God. I’m going on. I’m stepping into the Promised Land because I’m a candidate for a miracle!”
