Spending time at my regular spot at the local café had come to feel as though I were standing at my mission post.
I was ready to hear from God and respond to whatever he sent my way.
That day, he sent a woman who was walking with a limp. I recognized her as my friend’s boss and went over to greet her. She was walking painfully, distress painted all over her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. When the woman explained that she was experiencing severe pain in her foot, my kinesiology background kicked in. I began asking her for specifics about the nature of the pain and its location. Then she took off her shoe and I knelt down for a closer look.
Once on my knees, something happened. All I wanted to do was to pray. Looking up at this beautiful woman, I realized that God was wanting to make himself real to her. His heart was longing for intimacy with her. “Can I pray for you?” I asked. “Jesus wants to heal your foot!” The woman smiled and nodded.
Holding her foot and closing my eyes, I silently told God that it was all up to him. For although I had prayed in Portuguese many times, I was far from fluent. Sometimes it sounded good, and sometimes, not so good. This time I made an absolute mess of it. There was nothing eloquent about this prayer! I decided that I just needed to end it. So I blurted out, “Jesus, heal. Amen.” Then I hesitantly looked up. “How’s it feel?”
The woman smiled, placed her shoe back on and stepped down on her foot. Then she stepped down several more times, looked surprised, and finally stepped down again really hard. “It doesn’t hurt anymore!” she exclaimed. Thankfulness flooded my heart. God’s power had been made perfect in my weakness. “Jesus loves you so much!” I told her, and she lifted her hands up towards him in spontaneous joy.
