Can I Still Serve God?
“I noticed I was having a lot of pain in my right wrist and then it moved quickly to my left wrist, and the pain accelerated into a discomfort that was constant…like a burning,” says Julie.
The pain started in early spring of 2019 for Julie and was quickly making it difficult for her to maintain her active lifestyle and do the things she loved most.
Mike says, “Julie is a really unique person and does a lot of tasks, both chores and fun, with her hands. She loves dealing with the horses. I mean, the horses is her passion.”
Her husband, Mike, a retired family physician, did his best to help relieve her pain.
Mike continues, “My initial thought was that she had carpal tunnel syndrome. So, I bought her some braces and had her wear them pretty much day and night, and she wasn’t getting relief. And I started to get concerned that we weren’t dealing with carpal tunnel…”
“I kept having to look to Mike to pick up the slack. And we have all these plans and things we wanted to do. And all of the sudden I saw myself in a light where I would be a hinderance. It was very concerning,” Julie says.
After weeks of unrelenting pain, Julie went to a specialist who ran a blood test...it came back positive for Rheumatoid Arthritis.
“I was devastated. It is a horribly crippling disease. Here is a woman who was so active in everything that she did from horses to working to scuba diving. And my first thought was, that’s all going away,” says Mike.
Julie says, “I said, ‘Lord, I’m supposed to be your hands and your feet, but how am I supposed to do that if I can’t even use my hands.’”
Julie began taking medication which helped. But with their annual mission’s trip to Guatemala just a few weeks away, both were concerned that her ability to work and serve would be very limited.
But Julie wasn’t about to give up so easily.
“I knew God would heal me. I knew it. And if I was reading the Word and I would see a Scripture that leaned into healing or God’s promises, then I would repeat that Scripture over and over,” says Julie.
Then in July, days before they were to leave on their mission’s trip, the couple sat down to watch The 700 Club, a show Julie has been watching and supporting for years.
Julie recalls, “We were sitting on the sofa. And Gordon came on and I was expecting another news segment or story or something, and he started praying and having a Word of Knowledge. And we bowed our heads and started praying. And then all of a sudden he started talking about, ‘There’s someone out there with arthritis in the hands…’”
“There’s someone, you’ve got arthritis in both hands, and it is painful to move your joints and God’s just restoring everything to you, He’s restoring nimbleness to your fingers. Just do what you couldn’t do before and realize God has just done a wonderful miracle for you,” says Gordon.
Mike says, “I immediately looked up. And I looked over at Julie and she was looking at me and I’m thinking, “I can’t believe that they just said that. And they’re talking about you.”
“When he was done praying, I stood up and I took off my wrist guards and I said, ‘I claim that, that’s mine, that’s for me!’ Julie exclaims, “By the next morning there was no pain. There was no pain.”
The two went to Guatemala as scheduled, and Julie was able to work and serve pain free. After returning, Julie went in to the doctor for a second check-up and more blood work.
Julie says, “The second set of blood work came back and my Rheumatoid Arthritis was back into normal range…I was healed…”
“I was awestruck. I knew there was no medical reason for those test results to come back normal. Because once your diagnosed with it, you always have it. And now seeing something first hand that I can’t explain away other than it was a miracle,” Mike says, “It has just catapulted my faith into areas that I just didn’t think I would get at as quickly.”
Completely freed of pain, Julie says she no longer needs medication. She’s ecstatic to get back to all the things she loves, especially her horses. But above all she has a greater understanding of just how much God loves her.
“God cares for everything in my life, not just the big things, but He is involved in the most intimate details in my life. And I want to serve Him. And I want to bless Him and I want His name to be glorified, not mine,” says Julie.
