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Topic: Achoo (04/11/13)
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TITLE: Divine Sneezing Powder | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marsha Barrow
04/14/13 -
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The Miracle Man (as I call him) is Elisha the prophet whom my mother bestows considerable kindness. Although Elisha has a home somewhere near Mount Carmel, he also travels from town to town teaching and preaching and ministering to the people. Even before my birth, my mother honored this man of God and provided for his needs. She prepared meals for him and asked my father to prepare a special upper room built just for his use. The room has a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp so he can study and pray. It also has a comfortable mat for Elisha’s servant, Gehazi.
When Miracle Man asked my mother what he could do for her in return for her kindness, she simply told him she was content with her life. But Miracle Man wanted to do something for her so he asked his servant what could be done and that is how my life began:
“Gehazi said, ‘She has no son, and her husband is old’” (NIV 2 Kings 4: 14). But when Elisha informed my mother that she would hold a son in her arms the following year, she objected because she thought it was impossible for her to ever bear a child.
My mother was wrong. Nothing is impossible with God. So she became pregnant, and the next year she gave birth to me. I was an unexpected joy. I grew strong. I worked continuously in the fields with my father.
One day under an extremely hot sun, I became caught up in my labor. I forgot to drink water; I worked vigorously. Suddenly my head began to hurt. The constant throbbing caused me great pain. I ran to my father. He instructed a servant to carry me to my mother. I do not remember much after that, but I am told that I died in my mother’s arms. She did not lay me upon my own bed, but took me to the small upper room and lay me upon Elisha’s bed. What happened after that is a true miracle.
My mother asked my father for a donkey and a servant to take her to see Elisha. She didn’t tell my father what had happened; she just kept saying, “It’s alright.” She knew that Elisha would help. She would only speak to Miracle Man. She just told Gehazi, “It’s alright.” Humanly speaking, it wasn’t all right. But my mother knew her God. She knew He had a plan, and that whatever happened, it would be all right.
Elisha approached my mother, and she fell at the prophet’s feet refusing to leave his side. Gehazi ran ahead and was told to lay his staff upon my face, but it did not work. I did not awaken. Elisha and my mother made their way to the house. Elisha came into the room and shut the door. He prayed with intensity. [Then he got on the bed and lay upon my body, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon me, my body grew warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon me once more] (NIV 2 Kings 4: 34-35).
And then it happened: “ACHOO! ACHOO! Seven times I sneezed. God’s answer came in the form of seven sneezes—His work complete, and a new life began for me. The Lord God Almighty just sprinkled a little divine sneezing powder on my nose, and in that way I was resurrected from the dead.
My mother isn’t a great woman because of fame or fortune; her greatness is simply due to the fact that she believes all things are possible with God. I am living proof that God can raise this physical body as well as our spiritual bodies from death unto life. I live because He lives in me. ACHOO! Life is grand!
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