GOD CAN SHOCK THE DOCTORS!

Pastor Viv shares her faith-stirring story about God’s healing

Describe the moment you heard the doctors’ report.
I had just come out of surgery – for what was meant to be a fairly simple surgery to remove a cyst – when the doctor said to me, “The surgery to remove the cyst was successful, but there’s a growth the size of a fist inside your intestine”. He suspected cancer and felt I would need immediate surgery. My heart dropped and I was in disbelief, even though it explained the set of symptoms I had been wrestling with for quite some time. In all this, I felt a quiet voice inside me say, “You’re going to be OK”.

Did you have any questions for God?
My questions revolved around His promises to me. Did He really mean the promise He made to me when I got married, that Rod and I would grow old together? I told God that I didn’t consider Rod or myself to be old enough yet.

How important was it to have friends, family and church community around you?
It was awesome to have people with faith in Jesus around me. I could truly feel their prayers. From the first words Rod spoke to me (he didn’t even want to call it cancer), his faith-filled prayers reminded me that God is able, to my son Richie’s prayer for God to “shock the doctor” and my son Monty’s prayer for God to heal me beyond what I could even hope or imagine; to the heartfelt prayers of the girls in my Connect Group and the corporate prayer of our dear church family. I’m so grateful for every person God has put in my life. Their prayers are powerful!

How did you strengthen yourself or find courage in God?
I prayed with some scripture that God had given me. I prayed Romans 15:13, that in the face of troubling news God is my source of hope, that the Holy Spirit would give me strength and that I would experience His healing power. I reminded God of His promise to me in Malachi 3:10. In difficult times it’s God, His promises and His people that give us strength.

Tell us about your “Shock the Doctor” moment.
The day I was due to go to the hospital again, my family prayed for me, and Richie asked God to “shock” the doctor. (We named it a “shocktor!”). To our delight, the doctor was “shocked!” The results showed that I didn’t have colon cancer. He said it was a tumor, and that a biopsy and further surgery down the track would be needed. The surgery scheduled for that day was cancelled.
I went back the following week for a biopsy and the doctor was even more shocked, because the tumor he had seen earlier had shrunk from 4cm to 1cm. He had no explanation and wanted me to come back in a week for the biopsy results. When I went back, the results showed no cancer cells or tumor cells. There was nothing in the intestine for concern.
I asked him if it was unusual for something to disappear like this and he said, that it was very rare. I told him that we prayed, and felt it was a miracle. He seemed quite confused and not wanting to reject or confirm what we were saying to him, he chose silence. Basically, we would never need to see him again. And so we thanked him and said goodbye! We walked out of hospital more thankful than we could have ever imagined.

It can be hard to know what to say to people who are going through challenges. What are some helpful things we can say and do?
The scriptures people shared with me, especially when my faith was low, lifted me. Their prayers and their offers to help encouraged me. In fact, few but positive words, was what I appreciated the most. A simple smile, people telling me they were praying for me, spoke volumes.

There have been many other recent stories of healing and miraculous breakthrough in our church community recently. Do you think it’s important to share our testimonies?
Yes, faith is contagious! Our stories can bring hope to others that they too can reach to God for a miracle.

What do we do if we are still trusting God for healing and breakthrough?
Keep hope alive by believing God heals today. Reach out in prayer believing His Word and promises for you; and by rejoicing in other people’s healing. Keep asking, keep trusting God!