In 1999, my spinal discs were broken. The gel in the last two discs at the base of my spine was squashed out against my spinal nerves. Sharp pain cut through my right hip and shot down the back of my right leg to my heel. My lower back was locked-up -- I could barely touch my knees as I tried to bend forward. How was I going to tie my shoelaces? As I tried to sit on the chair or even on the toilet bowl, I was agonisingly sitting on the problem spot itself! Sleep alone was a torture, and sports was taboo. The medical procedure to treat “slipped-discs” was to surgically remove the gel that was sticking out from the disc, but the squashed-out gel of my broken discs were spread so wide that it touched every surrounding nerve. Hence, my only hope of surgery would have cut up those nerves and left me utterly paralysed.
Two years later in 2002, the worst struck -- all the skin covering my limbs and ears started to dissolve into wet and itching open wounds, oozing plasma all day. Whenever I awoke or undressed, whatever crust that could form would tear from my clothes or bed-sheets. Whenever I was outdoors, houseflies would hound me endlessly. The specialists fed me steroids -- doesn’t such poisonous stuff harm my liver and bones? They also prescribed me steroidal cream that caused whatever patch of skin I had left, to become paper-thin -- if I just scratched my “skin”, it would bleed. Every time I stopped medicating, my condition grew worse. Once again, the doctors concluded that there was no cure for me.
"Though He (God) slay me, I shall trust in Him", I told myself. But five years of broken discs and two years of no-skin later, I was sitting on my bed -- depressed. I recalled many times that the Bible said, "by His (Jesus’) stripes, you are healed." I heard in my heart, "Son, you are healed. Why are you still on your sickbed?" Stunned, I answered, "How could you say that I’m healed? I'm still in pain!" Then my Heavenly Father continued, "Do you believe Me, or do you believe the doctors?" I was really challenged at that point -- I called myself a Christian, yet I had not persevered in believing all that the Bible said. So I replied in my heart, “I’m sorry Lord, I believe -- help my unbelief!” The doctors made sense when they said, “No running, no jumping.” -- such impact would squash out more gel against my nerves. But God said I was healed. So despite the pain, I went out to jog everyday. I also joined the hip hop dance team in my church.
Two months later, we were in Yangon running a revival conference called History Maker Myanmar 2004. I had lost interest in inspecting my illnesses by then. But one day, I decided to I test out my spine. I bent forward while standing, and Jesus -- I touched the floor with straight legs! I looked at my skin and I couldn’t care less that it was not soft and smooth. But what made me smile was that skin had actually covered up my entire being, leaving no gaps for wet and open wounds!
Yes, the two incurable diseases were healed at the same time! Surely, that was the work of God that I cannot deny. Jesus died to pay the penalty of my sin, sickness and curse over my life; Jesus is God; and Jesus is alive!
Recent practice at gymnastics session.
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