I’ve had this right hamstring really buggin’ me for the last 5 weeks, strained on the only missed rep deadlifting in the Easy 40. I haven’t been able to squat or hinge for over a month, and stretching has made it worse each time I’ve tried. I was limping around at work Friday, and having trouble going up stairs all week. I’ve never had a simple muscle strain last longer than a week, ever.
I was asking God just this morning, “What’s up with this? Why is this nagging me?” I was thinking it was just to keep exercise (any time spent exercising) out of my frame of life right now. I was okay with that. But geez. The thing wasn't seeming to get any better at all.
So, one of the many, many groovy God moments at today's Activate Love seminar, there was an 8th grader, Dominic, who was there because he was the little brother of one of the high schoolers. We all broke up into pairs and did an exercise to practice approaching a stranger, asking them if they have any physical ailment, and offering prayer for it. It was just practice, the “person approached” was just supposed to make something up as their ailment.
Dominic was my partner, and I told him straight up before we started that I was serious, I wanted him to really pray for my hamstring - not just in play. So he did. We went through the motions of the exercise, but his prayer was serious, simple and heartfelt.
I told him to tell me to move it around afterward - to “do something you couldn’t do before the prayer” - and I followed his instruction to do so; moving my leg around, and then I was squatting down and feeling no twingy aches. Felt great. Healed by the activated love of Jesus through an activated 8th grader.
After the whole event, I pulled Dominic aside to tell him all of my experience, and my revelation that the reason my hamstring didn’t get better on its own, or with my own prayers, or my own therapy all this time, was so it would be hurting and ready for him to pray for it today. He’s activated in healing, and he can use this on people who have nagging issues to show them God’s love. I told him I was going to go run today.
Imagine being activated in healing in 8th grade. If I would have, who would I be now? Go Dominic.
As for me, I ran sprints in the street tonight. Fast fifties. God is a good God, and all things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.
