Miracles

(By Hymar Idibie David) - MIRACLES. 

You stare at the handsome, three-piece suited up man on the telly as he approaches a row of people holding up rectangular sheets that proclaims illnesses, diseases and other physical conditions. His suit is white. He always wears white when ministering to the sick.

As usual, your imagination makes up for the lack of audio. When he speaks, you imagine what he is saying. In your little corner of the world, 'imagination is everything ' is not just a badass quote.

"Healed! " he roars and a woman jerks and goes down.

"Out of her! " he thundered and another woman, a white woman, starts vibrating like powerful volts of electricity were running through her body.

You switch off the television and return to shuffling papers. You are tired of miracles.

Faith this, faith that. Believe this, believe that.

Hey, if you love me, prove it. Don't make me ask you twice. Or three times. Don't tell me something about having faith moving mountains. I just want to use faith to cut some stubborn grass in my own backyard. Leave mountain matter for pro climbers. 

If you love someone, you go out of the way for them. You bend every rule in the book. You bypass every law. It ain't even up for debate. 

Actions speak louder than John 3:16. Burn me. 

It is not that complicated.

I still believe in miracles though.

Divine healing happens.

Medical healing happens too. 

Miracles are not restricted to one plane.

You take it for granted that you can pop an asprin for a headache and be better in five minutes. Be ready to jog in 10 minutes. But 100 years ago, if you had a headache, you would be in bed all day.

If some Christians would stop seeing medicine as an affront to their faith and their jealous-of-sharing-glory-god they would probably not be dying needlessly.

You say God is good. But you also believe he wants you to suffer that painful condition for 5 months, hoping on him to heal you when there's a pill a doctor can administer that could heal you in 6 seconds pronto.

So much for goodness and mercies manmarking you like Herrera.

Jesus told a parable about the good Samaritan rescuing a man robbed and beaten to the point of death. The good Samaritan swung into action, administering first aid then drove him on his Peugeot Ass to an inn where he gave specific instructions for the man to be MEDICIALLY attended to.

In the parable, a Jewish priest and a Levite had earlier passed the man and left him there. 

Y'all come on Facebook and form sub masters and mistresses. Be doing like na your papa get the patent for sub. But Jesus is not just the king of kings, he is the king of subs. I said it. He delivered brutal uppercut subs and ended them with, I am in my synagogue, comman crucify me. 

The priest and levite, a pastor and a Christian, passed the wounded man and kept going. The priest probably murmured, 'Be healed ijn' as he passed. The Levite probably looked at him and said, 'You no fit bind and cast them out? Faithless Christian. You should have spoke in tongues.'

Jesus could have used an ordinary everyday Jew in the parable. But he chose a Samaritan. Someone the Jews turn their noses down on. An heathen. An unbeliever. Someone that we probably would call 'fool' today. 

"But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. " (1 Corinthians 1:27)

The point Jesus was trying to make was not just, Be kind. He was also saying, Be practical. Be realistic. 

What's the realistic thing to do in your present condition? Leave faithing it and get real! I am not saying throw away your faith. I'm saying, if there's something that can work it out for you faster than your faith then put your faith in that something. 

Has it ever occurred to you to ask yourself, What if doctors are God's ministers of healing too? What if God wants to use Doctor Chinedu instead of Pastor Chris? What if God wants you to go to a hospital and not a church? 

Some Christians are heavyweights who can deal with sicknesses and diseases. But even Smith Wigglesworth, the Apostle if faith himself battled kidney stones for years. YEARS! And this was a man who raises the dead and cast out devils.

You that cannot raise a mosquito, you want to skip dialysis with faith abi? So that when your kidney is ruined you can now rush to the hospital and beg doctor to do everything possible.

I think some Christians, their faith don't work because deep down they are faithing out of stinginess and broke assery not belief in the power of God. Them no wan spend money for hospital bills so dem dey form 'God fit do am. No be God again? The god of Oyedepo go do am. The god of Adeboye go put enemies to shame. '

Onigbese, go find money to pay for that typhoid treatment joor. 

Another thing is, most of us that quote Paul 'I will rather glory in my infirmities' we are just feeling ourselves. We believe God will honour us for our long-suffering. For all we have endured because of him.

Well, read your bible well, Paul said "I will rather glory in my infirmities "

He didn't say "God will rather glory in my infirmities."

That's the problem I have with reading Paul's letters. Too many personal opinions (most times riddled with bigotry). God no send the man message e go chook mouth. Same thing Moses did, God said do one thing, Moses went to do another. Same thing with Saul. God gave specific instructions, he went to add the maggi of his personal opinion. When God asked him, Hian, I said take no spoils! The oversabi went, Han han, I just saved those to sacrifice to you.

Sacrifice! That's the word. A lot of us think we are making God happy by needless sacrifices in his name. Your kids are hungry and you are dashing pastor your salary in the name of sacrificial giving. Your village people have used your brain to do sacrifice for T junction.

God gets no glory out of your sickness or being poor(Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Cursed are the poor in money for they shall hunger and thirst after boli and fish, even garri they will not see) . So if you want to form, I will show this sickness who is the master. Better know that if(and yes, I said IF) your faith no save you and you die, you are on your own.

God is not threatened by doctors. Or medicine. Or science. Your pastor is. And if your pastor is, you are in the wrong church. 

Which is easier and more practical , Fasting and praying over it for 3 days or taking a pill that could give you relief in 3 hours ? 

Let me close with a personal story I only shared for the first time when I was out on lunch with Mofesola Babalola at Wuse 2 on Sunday. 

When I was a little boy, my parents took me to a lot of places. Churches mostly. Crusades mainly. There was Deeper Life Easter/Christmas retreat. There was Shiloh. There was Total Experience. There was Night of Bliss. There was the Healing School. There was too many hands being laid on me. Too many fierce commands, heartfelt prayers, holy utterances, faith healing theatrics. 

Nothing worked. I always went home the same. No. Not the same. I always went home feeling something was REALLY wrong with me if those guys I see on TV and read about couldn't help me. Why was it working for some folks I know. Why wasn't it working for me? Dem really mean me for my village or what? 

I grew up and stopped all that. Mama would tell me about this 'powerful pastor' and I would go 'e fit carry weight pass me? '(I was huge and working out lots then) and she would be like 'don't be like that na'😂😂😂😂

In 2014 or 5 or maybe it was 3, my then girlfriend, one short Urhobo geh laidat, accompanied me to an ENT center in UBTH, Benin. The guys there ran some tests then asked me to sit in this big box like an incubator. They took two tiny devices from a box and fitted them behind my ears. Then they started talking. 

BUZZZZZZZZZ! BUZZZZZZZZ! 

I started. I stared at Kay, she was staring back with a 'what? ' in her eyes? 

Then she asked, Can you hear me? 

I said, Yes. And no. 

What happened was I was hearing people speak. I just couldn't hear what they were saying. The device served to AMPLIFY spoken sounds. It however couldn't CLARIFY those sounds. I closed my eyes and for the first time, I didn't feel really tuned out when I did. Sounds floated in and out. I opened my eyes again. 

Kay said, Lets go, there has to be a higher version of this thing. 

As we walked back, hands interlocked, I kept thinking of all those places I was taken to. How nothing worked. How they made me too conscious about my (supposed lack of) faith and worthiness. Too depressed. How they gave me hope then took it back. How it didn't matter anymore because now I have a better definition of miracles.