« 今晩は! | メイン | The Church In Japan: Eighty Eight »
2007年07月22日
Christ My Healer
Christ My Healer by Paul Sunde
Some years ago a friend of mine went to Vancouver, Canada, on business. As he was a Christian, on Sunday he visited one of the churches in the city and there he ran into some people that he used to know from Osaka. They started talking about old times and my name came up. One of the girls said, ”I remember a guy named Paul Sunde-However, he got cancer didn’t he?”
”He died, right?”As recently as a few years ago there were people who thought that I had died. I suspect that even now there are places where Paul Sunde is thought of in the past sense. Through my testimony I would like to share with you how it is that I came back from the edge of death and am still alive.
I Hospitalization
Everything started with my waking up in the morning with my whole body shaking so bad that my wife actually thought it was an earthquake. I had a feeling that my body was in serious trouble so I had her drive me all the way to Kyoto to the Baptist Hospital because there were doctors there that I knew and because it was a Christian hospital that I was used to. In the hospital I had one big question: WHY?
What had I done wrong? I was very busy at the time pastoring the Bethany Church in Osaka. When I started to have physical problems I had many people pray for me. I believed Matthew 8:17 which says, "He Himself (Jesus) took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses." And yet, here I was, in the hospital. Was this God’s will for me? Could this be God’s will? And if this was in fact God’s will, what was going to happen next? Was I going to die or to live? Did I need to hurry up and find a new pastor for the church or was I going to be healed? Of course there was only one thing to do in order to answer these questions and that was to pray and to read the Bible.
II The DISCIPLINE of God
The answer to my first question of whether or not I was in the center of God’s will came quickly. It was in Hebrews 12:5-7 "And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: 'My son, do not dispise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourages every son whom He receives.' If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?" God, IN HIS LOVE-as my loving Heavenly Father, was treating me as a son and was disciplining me for my own good.I REALLY needed to be in the hospital-it was the BEST PLACE for me to be at that time. It was a result of GOD’S LOVE for me. Why? I was TOO busy. Work was my life. Work controlled me rather than me controlling my work. I was too busy to pray.
My prayer times were business meetings with God. Bless this project-bless that project.I had no time to really pray. To spend time with God because I loved Him and wanted to be with Him. I was involved in many things kind of shikatanaku-not because I felt the guidance of God. In the hospital, my schedule was wiped clean and I was given a chance to begin again. I am really really thankful for that. My schedule is different today because of that time in the hospital. In the hospital I was given plenty of time to read the Bible and pray. No thoughts of work anymore. Just God. In spite of the pain etc. my time in the hospital soon turned into a retreat time. A time away from people and work. A time to get to know God in a deeper way. However, I soon had to seek an answer to my second question. Life or death?
I was operated on in March and the doctor told me that without an operation I would have been dead by June. My doctor operated on me with NO HOPE OF A CURE. My wife was told that I would die either in the fall or in the winter and so I was supposed to enjoy the summer as my last time of health. Medically speaking there was no hope at all. I needed to know whether to start making plans for my own funeral or to plan on continuing on with my work. I needed to know whether or not I needed to find a new pastor for Bethany soon or not. These were big questions-not the kind that are asked everyday.
III Guidance
There were three places that I looked for the answers to my questions.
1. The Word of God.
2. The Spirit of God.
3. The Church of God.
The Word of God
This was where I was weak. Verses such as Matthew 8:17 did not help because I already had cancer and was in the hospital.
Verses that spoke of Jesus healing people did not help because I and many others had prayed many many times for healing before coming to the hospital. I needed a verse that would speak to me WHERE I WAS. For me that portion of the Bible was John 9:1-7
First, my parents and I were encouraged by verse 3. "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him." At a time like this it is very easy to blame yourself. Both my parents and I would find ourselves thinking that it was some sin that had put me into the hospital. This verse encouraged us that that need not be the case.
However, even more than verse 3, verses 6 and 7 really spoke to me. "He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing." Often, when Jesus heals it is instantaneous. As I have already mentioned I had been prayed for many times and was NOT instantaneously healed. But here was a case where Jesus heals-but NOT instantaneously. To me this meant that even though I was in the hospital and even though I was taking medicine and even though I had had an operation this did NOT mean that Jesus was not healing or was not going to heal me-just that it might take some TIME. Another unique thing here is that Jesus used MEDICINE (of a sort). He used saliva and clay to anoint the blind man-He did not just lay hands on the man and pray. This was a great encouragement to me and I was able to pray that just as Jesus used saliva and clay to heal the blind man that Jesus would use the medicine I was taking to heal me. The final ecouragement for me was that Jesus used a PROCESS to heal this man. He had to go to the pool of Siloam and wash and then he would be cured of his blindness.
Before going to the Baptist Hospital in Kyoto I had really prayed and believed that that was where God was guiding me. I had also prayed much about my doctor and felt that Dr. Shiota was a doctor that God was guiding me to. I don’t think that the blind man could have gone to just any pool-it had to be the pool of Siloam. It was NOT a special pool-just the pool that Jesus led him to. In the same way I don’t think the Baptist Hospital is a special hosptal or that Dr. Shiota is some special doctor-just that for me that was the hospital and the doctor that God guided me to. Through these verses I was encouraged to believe that even though it might take time I should believe that Jesus would in fact heal me of my cancer.
The Spirit of God
Along with the Word of God was the very important work of the Holy Spirit in my life. What was the Holy Spirit saying to me during those days in the hospital? The Holy Spirit seemed to be saying that I was going to be healed and that I would continue my work here in Japan. Right at that time I had a very interesting experience.
Some days after my operation, I felt my life slowly ebbing away.I felt like a candle that was going out.I was so weak I could only wisper. I called my dad over and wispered in his ear, ”Thanks for being with me”. I thought that that might be the last sentence I would utter. Then my body went to sleep but I myself didn’t. Then I found myself leaving my body and floating above my body-looking down on my own body. I saw the nurses come in and I could see my dad sleeping. I felt that I was FREE to go to Heaven if I wanted to. I also felt UTTER PEACE-PEACE LIKE I HAVE NEVER KNOWN BEFORE. However, I was worried about my wife, Reiko. I was worried about my church. And I was worried about my mission. All night I was in that position and no angels came to meet me. In the morning, I found myself floating down to once again join my body. I then remember actually waking my own body up. And then I felt great physical pain and I knew that I was back in the land of the living-back in the physical world. My conclusion was that God’s will was NOT for me to go to Heaven but rather to continue living and working here in Japan. In that frame of mind I one day heard that my pastor from my church in America was going to visit me. This would be a chance for me to receive guidance through the church.
The Church of God
This was exciting to me because I very much wanted to know what his attitude to my sickness would be. Many people from churches here in Japan had been encouraging my wife to start making plans for my death and telling her that it could be
God’s will for me to die. I was given permission to leave the hospital for a few days and spend time with my folks and my pastor. There I asked him to pray for me. He prayed a most powerful prayer-really more of a prophecy than a prayer. He never mentioned the possiblity that I might die. He declared that God had a work for me in Japan and that I would be enabled to live and do the work that God had for me. I took his prayer as a confirmation from God that I should believe that I would in fact be healed.
IV Faith
There now was one final thing for me to do. God had given the guidance and the promise of healing. I now had to BELIEVE God. I had to have FAITH. Hebrews 11:6 states, "For without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him". For one year I was a very sick person. I was hospitalized 3 times and was operated on twice. However, the second time the doctor was amazed to find no trace at all of cancer. And for many years now I have basically been a very healthy person. In my free time I climb mountains and usually can outwalk younger people when it comes to hiking. In fact, recently I have actually taken up rock climbing. This is all just a result of the power and the grace of God.
Conclusion
What have I learned through all of this? I think I have learned two things.
1. Of course I have learned that Jesus Christ still heals sick bodies just like He did so many years ago.
2. However, I also learned a lot about the love of God.
God loves us so much that He does not let us settle for second best. Sometimes He guides us along some pretty tough roads but it is always because He wants the best for us. A doctor will only heal your body but God will heal not only your body but your heart also. Often, it is our heart that really needs the healing touch of God. I personally feel that the new work that God did in my heart during that year that I fought with cancer is greater than the work that He did in my body.
My prayer is that each and every one of you who read this testimony will experience this love of God in your lives. Maybe in physical healing. Maybe in a new work in your heart. Maybe in some other way. May God bless you all.
投稿者 bethany : 2007年07月22日 12:23
トラックバック
このエントリーのトラックバックURL:
http://www.bethanyjp.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/131