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Sounds like the start of a southern gospel song, doesn’t it?  Someday it just might turn into one, but for now, it’s my testimony and the story of how God has touched me.

All of us have, at one time or another, had ‘broken wings’ – an illness or ailment that kept our spirits from soaring.  My broken wings date back six years.  It’s ulcerative colitis, a painful as well as embarrassing disease, which can easily dominate your lifestyle.  Many doctors and many more medications wouldn’t control it.  In some cases, the treatment was as bad, or worse, than the disease. 

But nothing worked.   I’d get better for a while, but it always returned; and with its return, disappointment would come.  After a while I couldn’t work a full week.  The side effects from the medicine started to take their toll.  I developed the start of a cataract; I was diagnosed with osteoporosis; then bronchitis and broken ribs added to the discouragement.  Meanwhile, the list of medications kept growing.  My disease had reached the point where one doctor said that a colostomy was the only answer.

During this time, the disease began to dominate my life.  I had to make changes.  I couldn’t play with my son, Ben, as I once had.  I gave up being choir director for our church.  Finally, I had to change positions at work.  But not everything was bad; I began to see a lot of good in people.  My employer always worked around my difficulties and Ben understood the need for changes.  My wife, Von, has always been supportive of me and lifted me up in her prayers.  She understood when I couldn’t go on trips or had to change vacation plans.  She spent hours surfing the Internet for new medications and alternative treatments, but the help came from an unexpected source.  The Bible.

“Is any one of you in trouble?  He should pray.  Is anyone happy?  Let him sing songs of praise.  Is any one of you sick?  He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.  If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”  James 5:13-16 (NIV)

Isn’t it wonderful when we trust God enough to get out of the way and let Him take control?  He was leading Von, and she just had to trust and obey.  After reading scripture and receiving encouragement from a friend, Von called our preacher to ask that a special prayer service be held to pray for me.  Rev. Mark Dellinger was more than willing to participate.  When I arrived at the church, I expected to see the Preacher, our deacons and a couple of former deacons.  That’s when I knew it was time to stop thinking and start trusting the Lord.  There were 16-18 men from our church gathered.  Even as we began, we knew something special was happening.

I shared with them information about my illness and its’ effects.  We began with prayer, asking God to forgive us and prepare us for what was to come.  But can we really be prepared for God’s presence?  The Holy Spirit was present as the men anointed me with oil, lay their hands on me and prayed.  Some men prayed silently, others out loud, but in all of the prayers the request was that God’s will be done.  And that’s what I believe happened that day, that God’s will was done, right there in our little church.  These men came to pray for a brother that needed their help.

Afterwards we shared together what we had experienced.  There wasn’t talk of ballgames, races or other activities; it was about what had just happened.  Before we closed, I told the men, “I don’t know if I’ve been healed today.  It could be today, or next week, or it could be when I receive my new body in Heaven.  But I do know that my spirit has been healed today.”  For the first time in a long time, my spirit soared.

Sometimes prayers aren’t answered in the way we want or expect.  My colitis is still with me.  Does that mean that God didn’t hear our prayers?  No.  Did we do something wrong?  No.  Am I glad we had the prayer service?  Yes, and I am closer to God now than I was before March 24th.  On that day, a group of men stepped out on faith and felt God’s presence, and that blessing is still with me.  But now I can’t just sit back and bask in the glory of that moment.  I must continue to seek His will and follow His path. 

We all have our broken wings, which can be an illness, an injury, or anything that might handicap us from doing what we should.  Some are temporary things that will heal.  Others may be things we carry for a lifetime.  But we shouldn’t let our broken wings prevent us from serving God.  No broken wing has to be permanent.  Confess your sins to Jesus, ask Him into your heart today, and become His child.  And look forward to that new body in Heaven, where we can fly again.

Billy Miskelly
Sharon, S.C.