My mother recently sent me this extract from a book by Joni Eareksson Tada, A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the mysteries of Suffering, Pain and God’s Sovereignty. she discusses her visit to healing evangelist Katherine Kuhlman. I do not post this to disparage the reputation of a famous and long dead Pentecostal. Nevertheless, Tada’s experience is noteworthy. Why not let us know what you think?
‘I remember the night so well, Miss Kuhlman breezed onto the stage under the spotlight in her whit gown, and my heart raced as I prayed Lord, the Bible says You heal all our diseases. I’m ready for You to get me out of this wheelchair. Please would You? But the spotlight always seems to be directed towards some other part of the ballroom where apparent healings were happening. Never did they aim the light at the wheelchair section where all the “hard cases” were; quadriplegics like me; stroke survivors, children with muscular dystrophy, and men and women sitting stiff and rigid from multiple sclerosis.
God answered. And again, His answer was no.
After the crusade I was number fifteen in a line of thirty wheelchair users waiting to exit at the stadium elevator, all of us trying to make a fast escape ahead of the people on crutches. I remember glancing around at all the disappointed and quietly confused people and thinking Something’s wrong with this picture. Is this the only way to deal with suffering? Trying desperately to remove it? Get rid of? Heal it?