An Unexpected Miracle - Soul Choice Ministries

I went through a time where I was working out regularly in the gym with a very big, strong guy. I was determined to keep up with him and in doing so, I blew out my left knee lifting too much weight.

My knee swelled up like a balloon. I was in agony. I finally went to a doctor and he said, “You need surgery. You tore the cartilage in your knee.” I had never been hospitalized for anything before, but I knew I had to have the surgery. After the surgery, the knee did not improve. I was still in terrible pain. The knee looked normal, but it was still excruciating. This continued on for six months and required me to use crutches the entire time.

One night, my brother and sister-in-law called me to come have dinner with them. It was a Wednesday night and I always went to church on Wednesday nights. I had also just started attending a brand new church. At eight o’clock, I got up to leave for church and my sister-in-law said, “Bill, won’t you stay? Your knee hurts. Just relax. It’s a 45-minute drive and we still have dessert.” I was tempted to stay, but I’ve always gone to church on Wednesday night. I wasn’t being legalistic. I just enjoy going. I dragged myself up, and drove the 45 minutes to church, using crutches once I arrived. I sat in the very back and put the crutches on the floor. Nobody knew me there since I had just started attending a week before.

As I prepared to give my tithe, I began to write a check for $2,000. While I was praying about it, I felt the Lord tell me to write the check for $10,000! That was about all the money I had at the time, but I wanted to be obedient to what God said, so I wrote the check for $10,000. I then prayed over it and placed it in the offering basket.

The pastor then began to speak and during the service he stopped and said, “I need to pray for somebody here. I need to pray for their knee.” He looked right at me in the very back of this church filled with 300 or 400 people. The pastor walked over and laid his hands on my left knee…the correct knee. He had no way of knowing that because the injury didn’t look obvious. He prayed over my knee but nothing happened. I didn’t feel a thing. I left on my crutches and went home to bed. When I got up the next morning, my knee was 100% healed. After six months of agony, the pain was completely gone!

Here is an important lesson for us. Deuteronomy 14:23 says, “Tithe that you may learn to fear the Lord.” Part of fearing the Lord is showing God that we will trust him with our tithe. I was always an obedient tither and oftentimes gave above my tithe amount. Malachi 4:2 says; “Those that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.” It ties the fear of the Lord with healing…and the fear of the Lord is tithing. Part of fearing the Lord is showing that you fear God by tithing and that you’re obedient to His word.

We don’t earn this from God, nor do we deserve it, but God is faithful to keep his word. He said if we would tithe, then “the sun of righteousness would arise with healing in his wings.” What if I had not gone to church that night? What if I hadn’t tithed and obeyed the word of God? Would I have been healed that next day? I was healed the very next morning because I obeyed God. God is faithful to keep His word and His promises. I encourage you to obey everything He says in His word, and you will be blessed for it.

Excerpt from Bill’s book, Recession Proof Living