Testimony of Healing April 20, 2009 Issue

FINISHING THE COURSE WITH PRAYER

DON KEELER

Last summer, I realized a dream I'd cherished for years and took a paragliding course in a picturesque village surrounded by mountains in southern Germany. The four-day program was very demanding physically, since the first flights were performed from hills not served by ski lifts. The other seven participants and I humorously debated whether 30-second flights down the hill were worth the 15-minute climbs back up, loaded with 35 pounds of parachute, harness, and other gear.

On the third day, I had what many pilots euphemistically call a "hot landing"—a bit hard and fast. I shook it off and finished the day, but my legs and hips were very sore and began to stiffen. That evening, while having dinner with the friends I was staying with, I could barely walk, and they kidded me about "not being as young as you used to be." I went to bed early but not before a great deal of earnest prayer, knowing that I could depend on it for healing.

I began by opening my Bible to the story of Caleb (see Josh., chap. 14), who at the age of 85 was every bit as fit as when Moses had asked him 45 years earlier to investigate the land the Hebrews would later make their home. This story has always inspired me to challenge and overcome the physical limitations we may place on ourselves, and not accept the inevitability of "aging."

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