No more restricted jaw movement

Elisabeth Schwartz

For several days, a few years ago, I had been unable to open my jaw enough to chew solid food. And I was healed during a Wednesday evening testimony meeting at a branch Church of Christ, Scientist.

Before the service, I had been thinking about Jesus’ parable about the seed that fell on the good ground, and the seed that fell among thorns and was choked (see Luke 8:4–15). A number of unresolved challenges had been weighing on my mind, and the combined demands of work and family felt like too much to bear. Sitting in church now, however, I felt a deep calm. God was speaking to me in a way that I could hear that night, and I wanted that “good seed” to grow within me. I knew that I couldn’t let the cares of daily living or a preoccupation with a material perspective “choke” out the impact of God’s Word in my life.

Then the story of Elijah the prophet and the widow of Zarephath in First Kings 17:8–16 came to thought. I remembered that Elijah asked her for some water, and as she went to get it, he also asked her to get him a bite to eat. Burdened by her sense of extremely limited resources, she told the prophet that she was gathering sticks to make the last meal that she and her son would ever eat.

Elijah’s response to the woman was so kind and instructive: “Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.” I’ve always understood that to mean that, through Elijah, God is telling us to put the spiritual first in our lives, essentially, to put trust in God, Spirit, first. As the woman did this, she ended up having enough to feed her family, as well as Elijah, for “many days.”

I silently reaffirmed that I would trust in God’s providing, rather than lamenting the strain and stress that would threaten to overwhelm me. I thanked God for the gentle rebuke to put first things first.

At that point I realized that I could open my mouth wide without pain. I felt a profound sense of love for God, for Christ Jesus, for Mary Baker Eddy, and for the congregation. From that point on, I felt less overwhelmed and burdened, too. I was healed and the healing has remained complete.

As you can imagine, I sang the last hymn with gratitude in my heart!

Elisabeth Schwartz
Andover, Massachusetts, US

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