Date: October 18, 2014
Location: Peoria, AZ
Disease/Condition: Cold, severe headaches
Beneficiary: Stephen Smith
Age of beneficiary at time of healing: 20
On Sunday, October 12, 2014, I contracted a severe cold that was making its rounds through church. It began with a sore throat, which I exacerbated through vigorous singing in church, and shouting on the volleyball court. Confident in my usual resilience, I felt I would not get seriously ill, and that a good night’s rest would take care of it completely. But I woke up Monday morning with a head cold on top of the sore throat.
My sickness was not debilitating and, since college was on fall break, I went about the following days without too much issue. I went to bed each night praying and expecting to be better the next morning, but every morning I woke up, I felt exactly the same—or worse. Thursday afternoon, I stopped sneezing for a bit and pressure began to build in my left eye and in my head. My eye became slightly droopy. I sneezed a bit later and everything returned almost to normal, and I made it through the day without further incident.
Friday, my sickness began to ramp up further. My eyes began to be noticeably sensitive to light, especially the light of a computer screen, pressure in my eye became constant and caused minor headaches, and I was noticeably weaker—this was true even though I had gotten plenty of sleep through the week! Standing up helped slightly, but as soon as I sat down again, my droopy eye, drippy nose, and headaches were back with a vengeance. School was back in session but, try as I might, I could not productively complete schoolwork—my sickness, for probably the first time I could remember, was truly debilitating.
I had spoken little prayers all throughout the week, but now I began to cry out in my mind:
God heal me, God help me through these next 2 minutes, why am I not healed yet? Your power is still the same ... God said, ‘Not yet, it’s not time.’ The devil even tried to bring thoughts: You can’t reach heaven, am I still serving the same God?, etc., but I rejected these in short order, knowing everything was right between me and God.
Saturday, I woke up after nearly 10 hours of sleep, and unlike previous occasions, my eye was no better after the rest. Now in the sixth day of my sickness, I had nearly forgotten what it was to feel well and healthy, and longed for the ability to focus and go about my day without the distraction of a headache, to enjoy meals without a sore throat. Oh how happy I would be!, were I back to normal. Sitting over breakfast, all symptoms came back stronger than ever and I got the worst headaches I have ever had. I endured as long as possible, then retreated to the couch, but the pressure of laying my head down gave more pain than relief! I closed my eyes, nothing worked.
At this climax of my sickness, I was already making plans for Sunday being sick, and for next week, wondering how long it would take me to get better. I knew it could not last forever, but it felt as if there were no end in sight! This was a truly difficult point. I walked down the basement stairs, each plodding step sending a pulse of pressure to my head. As I sat down, the song came to my mind, God Wants to Hear You Sing. When? When the suffering comes along, when you’re in a difficult place. And so I began to thank God for his blessings and his goodness and his power, etc., and for 5 minutes or so, I was lost in thought. When I got up and reawakened to the surrounding world, I was suddenly and divinely healed. My headache was gone! My droopy eye, regardless of how it may have looked, felt completely fine! My nose had stopped running, and— I swallowed several times—my throat was not sore in the least! God honored my faith in that moment and healed me, and I claimed the victory. I then ran up the stairs to work outside.
I reiterate that God miraculously healed me of this sickness; whereas the body naturally becomes well progressively, my body became worse progressively, until an immediate and divine touch. God is truly the giver of health and I praise Him for his excellent care of us.