A Cessationist, A Witch, and A Man With One Arm

Being raised in conservative baptist churches has left me with a pretty conservative theology. I knew going into the race that there were people that would travel with me that believe differently than I do on some matters, but I stepped onto the plane with an open heart and an open mind. I’m ready and willing to encounter God in ways that I never imagined that I would. I’m two weeks in and already learning more about who He is and what He does. I’ve seen miracles happen with my very own eyes. 

There’s not a doubt in my mind that this man was speaking the truth to us. Samuel’s wife invited Lindsey and Ari into their home to chat for a bit and they found Samuel bound to his bed, for he had no circulation in either of his legs and one of his arms. His lack of circulation caused him little pain, but he lacked the ability to move those limbs. The gals on my team knew that they had been welcomed into their home to pray for him, so they quickly beckoned our host to join them because none of us are fluent in Spanish. As he was making his way to Samuel’s home, Nolo and I bumped into each other and he invited me to tag along, so that’s just what I did. Per usual on our ministry days, I had a kiddo on my shoulders, so I led him to run along to his mama and entered into the space where my teammates sat with Samuel and his wife and we prayed for him. 

One of the most interesting aspects of this visit for me personally, was that the Lord clearly told me when we had finished praying for Samuel, that he wanted me to pray for the woman. I was caught off guard, but why defy God? Having no knowledge of who she was, I began to pray for protection, provision, and redemption. Later that afternoon, I learned that my two other teammates that were present were also prompted by the Lord to pray for her. As quickly as she heard us sharing this, Rachel turned from her seat in the front of the van to let us know that there is speculation in the community that she is a witch. How neat that God cares so much about her soul that he would have us unknowingly join together to intercede for her.

Nolo is an incredible man of God and I admire him for too many reasons to share now, but what I find the most admirable about him when he visits people in their home is his intentionality. If they ask for physical healing, he is quick to check up on their spiritual health before he prays with them. He’s so kind and I’m thankful to be learning from him. After he prays for healing, he doesn’t quickly ask them how they feel. It would be easy to fabricate healing if he did this, but because of his permanent placement here he waits. He checks up on them to see how they are after a few days, but we didn’t even have to check up on this man. 

My little brain is working overtime these days, especially when it comes to opportunities like this one. I’ve struggled much in my life with doubting what other people say. Like most people, I want to see something supernatural happen with my eyes before I believe it. I believe God and who He says that He is, but I’ve struggled to know whether or not I agree that the miraculous gifts such as healing, tongues, and prophecy ceased to exist at the completion of the New Testament canon. This view is known as Cessationism. 

More than anything, I want to believe that they have not ceased, but my mind cannot comprehend a blind man being given his sight, or a deaf man having his hearing restored. The New Testament is infested with accounts of miracle after miracle, but I’ve never seen one like that, so what if they did cease to exist with the apostles and prophets of scripture?  

I woke up on Tuesday morning and for some unknown reason, I reached for my phone and began to scroll on instagram. My scrolling was interrupted by an article shared by a teacher that I follow explaining the cessationist position, so I indulged. I read and found myself to be quite confused, so I sought the Lord. I prayed a bold prayer asking Him to make it clear to me that the miraculous gifts ceased or if He continues to perform them and I even brought my team into that with me. No one on my team even knew what a cessationist was if that tells you their position on the matter. 

As we were going about our typical Tuesday morning routine of gathering the niños in the community to come hang with us, I caught a glimpse of a man out of the corner of my eye and I’ll be ding dang darned if it wasn’t Samuel smiling and waving at me from the outside of his house. THIS MAN WALKED OUT OF HIS HOUSE. He only had the ability to really use one of his limbs and NOW he was standing outside of his house waving at me with the arm that was limp before. GLORY TO GOD! 

Though I might have for a large portion of my life, I stand before you on this blog page and tell you that I no longer consider myself a cessationist and that’s why. I don’t believe it requires any more of an explanation. God restored this man’s ability to use all of his limbs on the very day that I asked Him to perform a miracle and that, my friends, is no coincidence. That is the healing power of God alive TODAY. 

As always, thanks for joining me. I’m excited to continue sharing about how the Lord is growing and changing me. 

 I love you. 

AWM