The Ministry of a Son-In-Law

In Mark chapter 1:29-31 we read about Jesus entering the house of Peter and Andrew and being told about Peter’s mother-in-law who was bedridden and very ill.  At that moment everything stopped and Jesus ministered to her need and healed her of her sickness.  The first thing she does is to get up and start taking care of people.  What a great story.  Do you ever wonder, does God still heal like this in our time?  Yes!  He does, I have seen it.  His healing often comes in a different package but God still heals.  I would like to share this story about a mother-in-law who received a marvelous healing just this past year. 

  It was a typical mobile clinic day.  After a long drive the night before and some rest in our hotel rooms, our team gathered for breakfast, ready to begin another day of clinics.  It is our custom to eat, pack and pray.  Then we travel down the road to the next clinic.  We go to bed late, we get up early, each moment is precious and planned.  This particular morning our routine was interrupted by the local pastor, who met us at breakfast and asked for Dr. Doug to please come and see his mother-in-law before we drove out to the clinic site.  This was not planned in our nice little schedule.  It was really inconvenient.  But it was apparent that this pastor was not going anywhere until his mother-in-law was seen.  So, Doug asked me to carry on the preparations, and he went to see the pastor’s mother-in-law. When he returned he told me about his visit. This poor women had been bedridden, unable to walk for several years.  Doctors in her area had told her she had no hope of recovery.  They told her she had a severe stroke and the damage was too bad.  After Doug’s exam he felt strongly that this was not an accurate diagnosis.  He was pretty confident that this woman may only have a benign tumor of the spine that could be removed and possibly give her all her mobility back.  When he returned to the vans he wrote a doctor’s note on a blank piece of paper with the clinic logo on it explaining his suspicions and encouraging the doctors to look again at the spine.  He told the pastor to take the letter to the hospital and perhaps they will be able to get some tests done to confirm his diagnosis and schedule surgery.  It took some time and many tests but a little over a month ago his mother-in-law had the surgery.  Below is a video of her a month after surgery.  She was told she might be able to walk after surgery, though it could take a year or longer to find out.   

  Divine appointments are all around us. In this case, ours came from the diligence of a loving son-in-law who, like Peter, was desperate for his wife’s mother to be healed.   The Lord saw his heart and met his need.  We felt privileged to be a part of it.  Let us not grow weary of doing good. (even when it messes with our schedule) for in doing so, we just might see a miracle. 

  https://vimeo.com/180182937