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A Miracle of Healing from Our Heritage
A remarkable instance of healing occurred at the first camp-meeting held near Bangor, in southwestern Michigan, in June, 1883. Emma Miller, who lived in Battle Creek, had been an invalid for nearly three years. Her eyes had become affected and she had to be led about. For nearly the whole period of three years (lacking one month) she had not read a line of print. After her conversion, which had occurred nine months previously to her healing, she was plainly shown by the Lord that she would be healed. On being invited to the camp-meeting she was again shown, in answer to prayer, that she would be healed. She requested friends to provide her with paper and envelopes, promising to write to them. In this confidence she went to the meeting.
On the fourth morning of the meeting, after continued prayer had been offered, she was impressed she would be healed that day. Brother Warner had been called away from the meeting, but J.C. Fisher and others were present. Here was a case of blindness. Her eyes were covered with a film and the lids were closed through paralysis and she could not open them. But nothing daunted the little body of spiritual workers here assembled.
Fasting and importunity characterized the earnest prayer. About 5 PM of the day mentioned, while Sister Miller was seated on the rostrum, where she had been requested to sit that all might see, suddenly her eyes were opened and she gazed upon the audience and praised the Lord. The people were amazed. Some fell to shouting, which was heard two miles away. Others trembled and cried. After praising God for an hour or more, Sister Miller went out into the bright sunlight without any unpleasant sensation, the first time for nearly three years, and wrote two postal cards. Her eyes became bright and strong. Sister Miller (now Mrs. A.B. Palmer) is still living and has had her sight ever since.
Marvelous healings were common, but as this one was a healing of complete blindness and was one of the earliest, it is here mentioned.
God Remedies Doctors’ Disastrous Mistakes
My grandmother, Helen Ferguson, fell from a ladder while painting her house in Lincoln Park, Michigan, years ago. She developed blood clots in her legs near her knees. This was just as new “wonder drugs” had been discovered and were being used with greater or lesser success, depending on the case. Without her knowledge or consent, the doctors administered one of these new drugs to dissolve the blood clot. It succeeded—but it also dissolved the joints in her knees.
She was placed in a hospital in Detroit for nearly a month, and the x-rays revealed there was no joint at all in her left knee. The doctors determined the best course of action was to fuse the bones, making her legs stiff. As Granny used to say, “Have you ever tried to sit down with two stiff legs?”
While the doctors debated how best to patch up their mistake, Granny said, “Jesus appeared at the foot of the bed in my room and said, ‘Daughter, go home; I’ll put the joint back. Just trust me.’”
When her physicians told her their planned course of treatment, she said, “No, you’re not going to anything of the kind! The One Who made me to start with has just visited me here this morning. Jesus my Savior and Maker told me He would replace the joint.”
She wrote later, “I just looked up to God and took Him at His word.” The doctors had braces custom made for her, braces that fit from the waist down. She used crutches and braces for three years, and wondered why God had not immediately enabled her to walk.
I recall her saying that one night in bed she asked God that very question, and it seemed as if He said, “You were not born walking—you had to learn to do it. Now, learn all over again.” She sat up on the side of the bed and took a few tentative steps. She wrote, “I had crutches, but while I used these, God replaced the joint and the muscles.” Each day she grew stronger, until she was using neither crutches nor braces.
Then she went back to the doctor. She walked in on her crutches (I suppose for the dramatic effect—Granny liked drama!) She said, “Doctor, I am going to lay these crutches down and walk right now.” He jumped up and said she couldn’t do it! She said, “Watch me.” And she did. He couldn’t understand.
He had her sit on the edge of his desk and manually examined her knees, mumbling something like, “That’s not possible.” So, he sent her to x-ray. When the x-rays came back, he placed them on the light table to read, next to the three-year-old x-rays. In amazement the doctor said, “My Lord and my God, there are no bones in the old x-rays, but there are in the new ones. What happened?” Granny then shared with this brilliant, kind Jewish doctor what Jesus had done for her.
I quote from her written testimony now, “Today, 14 years later, I walk without the aid of either [crutches or braces]! The doctors declared I would never walk without the help of crutches, but God’s Word is true! He already has done what He said in the hospital room He would do: ‘Go home and I will replace the joint.’ . . . . Jeremiah 17:7, ‘Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.’”
It is true that as Granny grew old, her strength grew feebler, and she had to use a wheel chair for longer walks—but how she rejoiced in the miracle of healing God had granted her!
A Testimony of Healing Today
I started having back trouble around July 13, 2014. I went to the hospital on the 15th for an MRI. They sent me home with a back brace to no avail; it didn’t help me at all.
On Sunday morning, July 20, I woke to get ready for church and I could barely move. I turned on the television and there was a religious program on and I cannot remember the name of it. The minister said he felt like there was someone watching who had a bad back problem and needed a touch from God.
I thought to myself, “That must be me, or at least it sounds like me!” As they prayed, I prayed along with them. Then they started to sing the song, “He Touched Me.” As I sang along I felt the anointing touch of Jesus. I got up, walked through the hall and down two steps into the family room. I am an avid walker, so I went ahead and walked my usual route around the block in my home town of South Shore. I had no trouble whatsoever. I then freshened up and went to the Church Fellowship Hall for our weekly Sunday breakfast and shared the news with my friends and later testified in our church service. This answer to prayer I couldn’t keep to myself! I want to tell what the Lord had done for me. I thank Him every day. Praise the Lord—“He Touched Me!”
Byers, Andrew L. Birth of a Reformation (Anderson, IN: Gospel Trumpet Co., 1921) 306-307
This is the testimony of the Editor’s grandmother, Helen E. Ferguson, who has since gone to be with the Lord. I know its veracity, for it made a great impression on me in my youth.
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