Discerning God’s Hand in Your Life!

Just like Jesus’s parables, we need to learn to unravel the patterns that God is showing us. A pattern, as I see it, is a trail of breadcrumbs or signpost that led you to see the hand of God in your life. Below is an example of how God walked me through a series of events that released God revelation and faith for my life.

On Good Friday, I was working at the prayer table in my church. I looked up and saw on the left side of the stage, a crippling spirit. It was bent over with hands and arms that looked like they were frozen and unable to bend. I said to this spirit, “Leave now!” It started to leave. When I looked again, I saw it trying to sneak back into our service. I said, “Leave now and don’t come back.” 

I pondered this event because I rarely see spirits. I was working with a prayer partner and I told him about what I saw. I said, “I am believing God is delivering people from a crippling spirit but I am not sure about the timing, but expect God’s to act.” I didn’t share this with anyone else, but put it on the shelf to hear what God was saying about all of this.

On Resurrection Sunday, I went to visit my sister for lunch and a movie. She has trouble reaching the inside of her car window to clean the smears off, so I planned on blessing her by cleaning her window. When I went to sit in her car seat, it was a lot lower than what I was used to. I fell into her seat and I could feel pain in my left hip and leg. A year ago, I had partial hip surgery and the pain had never completely left. I went ahead and cleaned the window. My hip and leg seemed okay. I realized a few days later, that when I fell, it torn the scar tissue that was keeping me in pain. I now had no pain getting in and out of my car.

I had been working out at the YMCA for over seven months trying to get back all of my movement from the surgery. At the YMCA, they did a health assessment and I was stiff but able to do most of the test. The next day, I got hit with flu like symptoms. It turned out, I had hives from the early blooming of the trees and grass. The hives were so bad that my joints ached and burned. I had never had this happen before. I stayed home and took some medicine. It never occurred to me that allergies to grass and ragweed could be linked with joint pain. A little while later in the week, I realized I didn’t hurt all over. All my joints had no pain. I had not been pain-free for over a year since the partial hip operation. I felt like the tin man, in the wizard of OZ who got oil for all his frozen metal joints! Mine was the Holy Spirit’s healing oil. All this joint pain was from allergies and not old age.

A few days later, I got new tires and wipers. Why am I telling you this? It is still part of the pattern God was showing me. My old tires were so loud it sounded like an airplane taking off. My wipers always rattled and were noisy. I was going to wait to get the tires because they said they were good for another six months. I am involved with a prayer group and we were planning on driving and praying, so I knew I needed quite tires. I decided to go ahead and get the quite all-season tires and new wipers. The new tires and wipers decreased the noise in my life. They paved the way for meeting new people when I drove to the prayer event.

I realized that the last few years have been very noisy in my life. I had so many things going on all at once. I brought a home, had a new church, joined five new groups, had five operations, had a block party for my new and old neighbors, and I am writing a blog. It has been a very hectic and noisy season in my life. These were all good things, but in this season, God is removing good things for his best.

Here is the pattern God was trying to show me. Last year was one of the most painful years in my life. I had five operations in three months and every one of them cause me pain for an extended period of time. I was getting hit with all the normal lies that the enemy throws at us. You are getting older and this is what happens. You have to live this way the rest of your life. I ignored the lies but couldn’t deny the pain. To active my faith in a good and loving God, I chose to work out and go to physical therapy. This all helped but I couldn’t shake the tightness and pain in my joints.

When I saw that crippling spirit, I didn’t really think about my condition. It isn’t that I deny what was apparent in my body. I refuse to be a victim and allow trauma to dictate my identity. My identity is not pain but that I am God’s kid. This identity allows me to walk through hard time and still come out of the fiery furnace not smelling like smoke. It didn’t happen overnight but as I walked with God daily, I started seeing all things work for my good.

Think about this! After seeing this vision of a crippling spirit, I walked through tearing the scar tissue from the car seat fall, which stopped the hip pain. The YMCA was my act of faith and I got a good health assessment from them. Plus, I now have a whole new group of people in my life that I met at the YMCA. The allergies to grass and ragweed caused hives which affected my joints, When I took the allergy medicine, the joint pain, which I thought was from getting old, totally left my body.  When I got new tires and wipers it decreased the noise in my life and opened new prayer connection. I realized God was revealing revelation on how to fight a crippling spirit that is trying to get us to sit down instead of fighting for our healings and victories.

When you pray for God to direct your life and trust him to work all things to the good, you will see how he directs your steps. These were events testing me to keep me crippled. I had been pushing through for a year for healing. I would take a step forward and get hit but by God’s grace I kept pushing. If God could keep Joshua and Caleb healthy, at eighty years old, to take the promise land, he could keep you and me. Seeing the crippling spirit, shows me that God is ready to release healing on his people. Just don’t let go. Don’t give up! Just wiggle your little toes if that is all you can do. It is still an act of faith.

Prayer

Father God,

Thank you for being a great Father who loves me. Jesus, you gave the Holy Spirit to bring revelation, correction, comfort, and healing. I receive all you have! Thank you for the price you paid for my victory here on earth. Holy Spirit, I invite you into my life. Fill me with all God has for me. Let me see and understand the patterns of my life. I bind any crippling spirits that have affected my life. I ask for God’s healing to manifest in my spirit, soul, and body, starting today. I am Your kid and I know you love me! I do choose to trust that God is a good God who works all things to my good. I ask that you direct my path and prepare me to take back what was stolen. I choose to trust you!

Declaration:

Father God,

Thank you that you have revealed, that a crippling spirit is being removed from your children. I declare that this crippling spirit on the Body of Christ is now leaving. That new pathways and new wineskins are now developing. Your word states to make level paths for the lame so they can be healed. God’s healing power is now released and as we walk the paths you show us, we will be healed and set free. Thank you, Jesus for all you have done. Thank you, Holy Spirit pouring in the oil of healing to set us free.

Scriptures

Romans 8:28, Proverbs 3:3-8, Numbers 14:30, Hebrews 12:13, and Luke 13:10-13.