M
So i have this married friend lets call her A
She has a daughter who started to develope scholiosis when she was about 14.
This is a condition where the spines twists and causes hunchback as the spine,
shoulders and pelvis are pushed out of alignment.
So something like this.
She has been offered surgery to correct it multiple times and the above images show
that it can be corrected. Obviously there are risks and it is drastic surgery which involves
fixing, for want of a better word, scaffolding and rods to the spine to correct it.
The thing is my friend A and the husband who are both Christians, wanted to wait and
see and pray about the situation and look into the surgery and the condition first. They are
both really good down to earth people I would add.
This was a reasonable thing to do when the initial diagnoses was made. But then they came
to the conclusion that God was going to heal their daughter and told the daughter this and
everyone else they came across that God was going to heal her and surgery was not necessary.
Fast forward a few years, the daughter is now 18, the curvature of the spine is so bad she can't sit
straight up and has to lean to one side. She can't stand or walk for long periods of time. She has
breathing problems. She is very self conscious of her posture and wears very baggy loose clothing.
She is also very shy and hardly ever socialises with other people. With each passing year
as she is growing and her skeleton is maturing, it means that the surgery will be more drastic with
a longer recovery time than if she had it aged 14.
She is absolutely fantastic at art, very gifted you won't believe the stuff she is capable of drawing.
She did start at art college when she was 17, but had to drop out after a few months as she
could not sit for very long without pain. So now she just stays at home and hardly goes
anywhere. Sometimes she comes to church but always is very self conscious and she is just
miserable.
But her parents just tell everyone God is going to heal her.
Various people including me and others and the church pastors have said that while God can and
does heal, that God also uses medical staff and surgery in that healing process. But the parents
have just criticised everyone else for their unbelief.
The thing is the daughter on a few occasions has had a few visions in the past in
which an envelope with wings came flying by the daughter's bedroom window but something was
blocking it from getting in.
I also have another friend we will call her friend B (See I do have real friends
).
Recently she had a similar vision of an envelope with wings which could not enter the
house but then it got inside and landed on the daughter's bed. My friend B said she
felt it was to do with the offer of surgery and that it was the right time to accept it.
She sent this by text to the whole family parents and daughter etc and there ended up
being a massive argument and lots of upset. With my friend A accusing my friend B of
being insensitive and not having faith.
The arguments have been sorted out now, but as a result of sorting out the argument, it
has now come to light that the hospital has been sending letters out for follow
up appointments but my friend A and her husband have been keeping these letter from the
daughter. They still haven't told her, only me and friend B know about this.
Friend B who found out about this told friend A she can't do that it is illegal to withhold another
person's mail and now the daughter is 18 anyway so she is old enough to make her own decisions.
It all makes perfect sense now that these visions were about hospital letters and aappointments
not reaching the daughter!
However my friend A is still adamant that God will heal her daughter and that it is riduculous to
think otherwise. Although she now says she will pass on any further letters.
The daughter poor thing is just going along with what her parents have been saying for the past
4 years. I think they have told her so much about the surgery that she is scared to even think about
having it and even more scared she will disappoint her parents by having the surgery.
Me and friend B are praying that when the next hospital appointment comes along that the daughter
will go and have the surgery and that the parents will understand and see the problems they are
causing.
Friend A and hubby are adamant their daughter will be healed, that it is going to be a wonderful
testimony for the entire church and that it will bring revival and floods of people into the church.
I would add that we already have revival and a flood of people coming into the church.
Sorry long story.
So how would you handle this, am I wrong for thinking surgery is one way in which God heals
and that there is nothing wrong with praying for a good outcome via surgery.
Whenever we mention surgery to friend A it causes more upset she gets very annoyed.
The poor daughter is caught in the middle in constant pain, shy, self conscious but does not
want to go against her parents by going for surgery.
I just feel this is a situation where the whole word of faith doctrine has gotten way out of
hand. It has not come from my church it is things the parents have seen on TV.
Or am I at fault for not believing in outright healing?
The thing is in the UK we are blessed to have totally free medical care, is that not
a miracle and part of God's provision also and what about those visions of envelopes
not reaching the daughter which were absolutely spot on. Was this not from God.
A whole young person's life could be ruined if surgery continues to be refused
and the older she gets the harder the surgery will be and the more complications
will be caused, damage to lungs, ligaments, muscles etc.
She has a daughter who started to develope scholiosis when she was about 14.
This is a condition where the spines twists and causes hunchback as the spine,
shoulders and pelvis are pushed out of alignment.
So something like this.
She has been offered surgery to correct it multiple times and the above images show
that it can be corrected. Obviously there are risks and it is drastic surgery which involves
fixing, for want of a better word, scaffolding and rods to the spine to correct it.
The thing is my friend A and the husband who are both Christians, wanted to wait and
see and pray about the situation and look into the surgery and the condition first. They are
both really good down to earth people I would add.
This was a reasonable thing to do when the initial diagnoses was made. But then they came
to the conclusion that God was going to heal their daughter and told the daughter this and
everyone else they came across that God was going to heal her and surgery was not necessary.
Fast forward a few years, the daughter is now 18, the curvature of the spine is so bad she can't sit
straight up and has to lean to one side. She can't stand or walk for long periods of time. She has
breathing problems. She is very self conscious of her posture and wears very baggy loose clothing.
She is also very shy and hardly ever socialises with other people. With each passing year
as she is growing and her skeleton is maturing, it means that the surgery will be more drastic with
a longer recovery time than if she had it aged 14.
She is absolutely fantastic at art, very gifted you won't believe the stuff she is capable of drawing.
She did start at art college when she was 17, but had to drop out after a few months as she
could not sit for very long without pain. So now she just stays at home and hardly goes
anywhere. Sometimes she comes to church but always is very self conscious and she is just
miserable.
But her parents just tell everyone God is going to heal her.
Various people including me and others and the church pastors have said that while God can and
does heal, that God also uses medical staff and surgery in that healing process. But the parents
have just criticised everyone else for their unbelief.
The thing is the daughter on a few occasions has had a few visions in the past in
which an envelope with wings came flying by the daughter's bedroom window but something was
blocking it from getting in.
I also have another friend we will call her friend B (See I do have real friends
).Recently she had a similar vision of an envelope with wings which could not enter the
house but then it got inside and landed on the daughter's bed. My friend B said she
felt it was to do with the offer of surgery and that it was the right time to accept it.
She sent this by text to the whole family parents and daughter etc and there ended up
being a massive argument and lots of upset. With my friend A accusing my friend B of
being insensitive and not having faith.
The arguments have been sorted out now, but as a result of sorting out the argument, it
has now come to light that the hospital has been sending letters out for follow
up appointments but my friend A and her husband have been keeping these letter from the
daughter. They still haven't told her, only me and friend B know about this.
Friend B who found out about this told friend A she can't do that it is illegal to withhold another
person's mail and now the daughter is 18 anyway so she is old enough to make her own decisions.
It all makes perfect sense now that these visions were about hospital letters and aappointments
not reaching the daughter!
However my friend A is still adamant that God will heal her daughter and that it is riduculous to
think otherwise. Although she now says she will pass on any further letters.
The daughter poor thing is just going along with what her parents have been saying for the past
4 years. I think they have told her so much about the surgery that she is scared to even think about
having it and even more scared she will disappoint her parents by having the surgery.
Me and friend B are praying that when the next hospital appointment comes along that the daughter
will go and have the surgery and that the parents will understand and see the problems they are
causing.
Friend A and hubby are adamant their daughter will be healed, that it is going to be a wonderful
testimony for the entire church and that it will bring revival and floods of people into the church.
I would add that we already have revival and a flood of people coming into the church.
Sorry long story.
So how would you handle this, am I wrong for thinking surgery is one way in which God heals
and that there is nothing wrong with praying for a good outcome via surgery.
Whenever we mention surgery to friend A it causes more upset she gets very annoyed.
The poor daughter is caught in the middle in constant pain, shy, self conscious but does not
want to go against her parents by going for surgery.
I just feel this is a situation where the whole word of faith doctrine has gotten way out of
hand. It has not come from my church it is things the parents have seen on TV.
Or am I at fault for not believing in outright healing?
The thing is in the UK we are blessed to have totally free medical care, is that not
a miracle and part of God's provision also and what about those visions of envelopes
not reaching the daughter which were absolutely spot on. Was this not from God.
A whole young person's life could be ruined if surgery continues to be refused
and the older she gets the harder the surgery will be and the more complications
will be caused, damage to lungs, ligaments, muscles etc.
