God is not dead!
The personal testimony of Eileen Pearson given on Sunday 6 February 2011.
Eileen said:
When I was talking to a friend a while ago now, we were discussing what was going on in our lives and sharing our problems as friends do. I was telling her that I was going to the hospital because of what people often called “lady problems”, by which I mean heavy periods. (I’m not going to go into too much detail here! So don’t worry!)
My friend said, “It is good how much women can be helped now. I suppose in times past they just had to put up with it” and my friend referred to the woman in the Bible who had bled for 12 years. I feel I have a lot in common with the woman in the story in St. Mark’s Gospel. Let me read it to you now:
St. Mark 5 25-34
“And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
At once Jesus realised that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’”
“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered,” and yet you can ask, “Who touched me?”
But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be free from your suffering.”
In view of this poor woman having spent all her money trying to get well, perhaps we should thank God for our NHS, even though many people see a great deal wrong with it. Nor would it be fair to say that I had “suffered a great deal” in the care of doctors at Medway Hospital. I know a lot of people complain about the place and it is true I had my operation cancelled and had to wait for another date. But I have a lot of praise for the doctors and nurses at the Medway. I found a lot of wisdom and knowledge and sympathetic help there. I had tried one treatment and it did not solve my problem and so I needed my operation and I am deeply grateful I had it. Every day is easier because of it.
I hope Jesus would say to me: “Your faith has healed you.” In one sense I was just anaesthetised and the doctors did the rest. But I believed they could and would help me and here I am, feeling renewed in spirit and body.
When Jesus ascended to heaven he left the Holy Spirit behind to help us. It was that Holy Spirit which guided the hands of my surgeon. It was God’s grace and kindness that one of the chief consultants performed my operation: one of the most experienced in his field, who was therefore able to complete my treatment by using a less invasive operation, which does less damage and leaves no visible scar.
Another good friend told me she was praying for me before my operation and she said: “Maybe you won’t need the operation.” I told her that I thought the miracle for me would be being cured by the operation. The world we live in still has its miracles. Every day many lives are saved and many frightened people given hope. Many broken hearts are mended by people who care. People often ask how can there be a God if there is so much pain and suffering in the world.
Yet why do people all over the world keep trying to stop the pain and put things right? Why do they keep trying and not give up? It is because someone keeps putting the hope back into their hearts. One day they might be discouraged but the next day they bounce back or someone will come along and encourage them to begin again. The encouragement might be spoken by a friend or colleague, but there is someone who goes all around the world encouraging people not to give up. Who is this faithful and tireless encourager? Our Lord and Father loves us and we know it and Jesus showed us how to help and care. God is not dead and His miracles still happen. The Holy Spirit is still among us, guiding us and moving us. Listen and you will hear.
Eileen