Grocery Store Healing

I went with my daughter to the grocery store. I’m not deliberately trying to influence her in the direction of healing. It just happens. While leaving the store, next to a beautiful display of flowers I noticed a middle-aged woman limping toward the parking lot. I felt like I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Go get her.” As I approached I gave her my best smile. “Good morning ma’am. I couldn’t help but notice you were limping. Do you mind if I ask how you injured yourself?”

“I don’t know you sir and I’m not sure that’s any of your business.”

“I’m a paramedic. I work in Tacoma. I’m not crazy and I’m not a stalker. I just like to see people blessed by the healing power of God. You can ask my lovely daughter….honest, lady!”

“You’re a paramedic huh? Do you always go around asking strangers about their personal problems?”

I was a little embarrassed. She didn’t brush us off completely, but she wasn’t exactly welcoming us into her life. I looked at the flowers sitting happily in their pots at the entrance to the store. “Look, Ma’am. I don’t always do this with strangers. I try to obey the Lord when I feel like He wants me to talk to someone.”

“Well, I’m sorry if it seems like I’m being defensive. I’m just not used to people I don’t know asking me things like that.”

“I’m sorry about that. I know this must be terribly awkward for you.”

She looked at my daughter. “You seem like a nice girl. Does he always do this kind of stuff?”

My daughter smiled. “Well actually, yes he does. We do pray for a lot of strangers.”

We were creating a scene in the entrance to the store and I wanted to take the conversation somewhere more private.  “Why don’t we walk to your car and talk about it on the way there?”

She limped pathetically toward her car and let me push her shopping cart. As she walked I could see that it was her knee that was giving her trouble. She couldn’t bend it.

“Looks like your knee is in pretty bad shape. Can I ask what’s wrong with it?”

“Well if you must know – I have a torn meniscus and I need surgery. And because I don’t have insurance right now I can’t afford the surgery. But if I don’t have the surgery and my knee gets worse I may not be able to work. So I’m in a bad spot right now and I’m not real happy about it.”

“May I please try to get your knee healed? What is it going to hurt if I just try?”

“Well it looks like you aren’t going to leave me alone until I say yes, so go ahead.”

I placed my hand on her knee. “I command this knee to be healed in the name of Jesus. I command the meniscus to be healed. Inflammation leave right now!” I asked how she felt.

She bent down and felt her knee. “It feels a little better.”

I placed my hand on her knee again. “Meniscus I command you to be healed right now. Pain and inflammation I command you to leave.”

I asked again how she felt.

“Well what do you know…it doesn’t hurt at all.” She looked at me like I was crazy and asked, “Are you for real?”

“Jesus is more real than you know, and He’s the one who healed you. He loves you and he has a great plan for your future.”

I asked if she had any other conditions I could pray for. She let me pray for back pain and high blood pressure. We talked for a while about the goodness of God. She gave me a hug and we left her with a huge smile on her face.

I learned an important lesson that day. This woman had a lot of stress over her injury and my insistence on talking about it probably brought up worries she didn’t want to think about. There’s a fine line we must walk when dealing with the personal problems of a stranger. If you become too aggressive, they may never develop trust toward you. I had to let the trust develop at a pace she was comfortable with and many times that can only be done by patiently talking with them about their concerns and putting them at ease.

This is an excerpt from the book My Craziest Adventures with God.