Day 57: Let God Be God

Today’s Scripture: Mark 8:22-25

Central Thought: God, not us, determines the method and timing of His intervention in our lives

In January 1971, 19-year-old Carl McCarver was scheduled for routine gallbladder surgery. The surgery revealed cancer that had spread throughout his body. In those days cancer treatment was quite limited, so the incision was just sewn back up; and Carl was sent home to die. When I visited him a few days later, I witnessed a young man whose sallow skin hung over his emaciated body. Death appeared imminent.

But a Pentecostal minister heard of Carl’s condition and came to offer prayer. When the minister laid his hand on Carl, Carl believed God had healed him. For months cancer symptoms continued, yet Carl kept on trusting God for healing. Finally, in August of that year, Carl was given a clean bill of health. The healing is still valid more than 35 years later.

Neither Carl nor the man in today’s Scripture told Jesus how He was to heal him. Each of them received healing the way God chose to give it. Perhaps when we pray for God to intervene in our lives, we also should accept His intervention according to the method and timing He chooses.

Devotional Prayer: God, Help me to believe in Your miraculous power to intervene in my life, regardless of the method and timing You choose.

Today’s Bible Reading: Leviticus 19:1-20:21; Mark 8:11-38; Psalm 42:1-11; Proverbs 10:17