Greetings and Blessings in Jesus Name. Many reading this have likely heard the testimony of how God delivered our youngest son, Eli, from an incurable disease. Scripture describes God’s will to heal and save. Healing is paid for equally as salvation and God cannot say “no” or “wait” or “maybe” to salvation any more than He can say “no” to healing. But why does it seem so hard to experience a breakthrough in healing? Too often, people arrive at the conclusion that God must have said “no” or perhaps God had a bigger purpose in your suffering. But this conclusion does not take into proper balance the other two entities at play; The unrenewed mind and evil spiritual forces that lurk in the shadows. Thank you for reading as I share a short story about God’s faithfulness!
An intense battle occurred prior to experiencing the enemy in full retreat and the complete restoration manifested in the natural. At times, it seemed like the more we prayed the worse things became but I found that once we decided to fight, it empowered us to focus our energy despite what we were seeing with our eyes. I would often find myself on walks at all hours of the day and night talking with my heavenly Father. I asked for guidance, wisdom, and revelation. My mind desperately wanted to understand why it was taking so long to see Eli healed. I wondered, were we doing something wrong? Beloved, this is a dangerous time where our minds, emotions, and the enemy work against us. Like a good soldier, we must train to recognize the strategy of the enemy! It is important to keep focused on the Word and let it be the guiding factor.
As we battled the disease and our own thoughts God was faithful. Looking back, I see how that God was guiding us to a place of receiving what He already provided! Many times, God would speak to us through dreams, scriptures, other people, visions, and the precious voice of God. I want to share one of those times when the voice of God spoke a great lesson of encouragement to us.
I was running a few errands in town and as I drove, I was talking with God and meditating on Eli’s situation. We were fully convinced of God’s will to heal our son and that God was not the holdup. My conversations with the Lord often focused on defeating the enemies that warred against us and trying to understand our roles. On my return home I approached the railroad crossing at the end of town. There were a few cars stopped ahead of the train’s arrival as the crossing lights blinked a pulsating red. I pulled up and stopped in traffic. My mind was not on dinner, TV shows, or anything else so trivial. My mind was focused on Jesus and the need for deliverance for our son.
The train approached slowly and steadily. As the first locomotive engines passed by, I recall looking toward the train, but something was different. The sight of the train captivated me deep inside. The voice of God began to minister to me. God drew my attention to the engines. “See how they move forward in one direction? See how they don’t waiver to the left or the right? See how they follow the tracks?” Wow! My mind became alive with the presence of God.
God began to minister to me about the tracks. God said, “You see, the tracks are like the Word of God. They are solid and secure. The tracks are predictable, and it makes the train that follows them predictable.” That was very true! I realized that I’ve never seen a train take a sudden turn to the left or right. I certainly have never seen a train do a dramatic U-turn! The Spirit of God was showing me if the train was under power and moving forward, it simply followed the tracks. Amen! In that moment, my human mind was struggling to absorb the information. What did all this mean?
As the train continued to move by, the engines pulling the train soon passed out of sight. Did that make them not exist? God then directed my focus to the train cars. I watched as the cars moved, rolling one right after the other, down the same tracks. They were all linked together to the power source. As the scene unfolded, I realized from where I was looking I could only see about ten train cars at a time. This is when God said something more profound. He said, “You can’t see the caboose, but you never doubt that it will arrive.” As a kid, I enjoyed watching the train pass my grandparents’ house and I always waited with anticipation for that lovely yellow caboose. Too bad they replaced them with a small, flashing light but the point was clear, the Spirit said to me, “You never question or wonder if the end of the train will arrive, you know it will arrive as long as the train keeps moving down the tracks and doesn’t quit.” Wow! The Spirit inside me and the revelation that God was bringing to my life made my soul come alive with excitement.
I realized that my current perspective limited me. The limitation wasn’t on God’s part, I was sitting very close to the train and couldn’t see all of it at once. In a similar way, with Eli, I was close to the issue and my perspective was limited. God showed me that if I had a helicopter, I could rise above and see the entire train at one time! As the train came and went, God revealed to me in those precious few minutes how all of this applied to our son’s situation. We were on the right track. We were doing the right things. God was with us. The power of the Spirit of God was at work. The train was moving! We would see the end of the train if we stayed on course and didn’t derail the train! God once again picked us up and told us “Just keep going!”
Our perspectives are often limited by our own vantage points. In other words, our ways of thinking, what we believe, what we think we know, our emotions, what we’ve been taught and our expectations blind us from the truth of the big picture. Jesus provided the answer – but can we see it? I can’t always see the train in full and sometimes I derail my own blessings. I have often reflected upon this experience. As we grow in the Word and in faith, I believe that our perspectives expand. We begin to rise above the circumstances to see a larger “big” picture of every situation in life in relation to what the Word of God teaches about victory. We develop greater confidence in the next battle and see results arrive quicker. Beloved, I want to encourage you. God is not the limiting factor! God is willing! Be honest with God in your prayers. Don’t tell God what you think He wants to hear. He can handle it without being offended! Ask for guidance. Ask for wisdom. If you are doing something wrong, God is faithful to show you. Don’t quit! Stay on track! Faith will see it come to pass!
Brother Jason Osborne
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