Marion knew the Lord was her healer. That wasn’t the problem. The problem, pure and simple, it hurt terribly to walk. She had walked all though IKEA one day and the next day she couldn’t walk, there was so much pain in her hip. This was more than three years ago.

She went to the doctor who, after an ultra sound, told her she had mild arthritis, tendinitis, bursitis and a pulled muscle. Physio was recommended. Her condition gradually improved over the next six months and the pain decreased, but her hip still would not work properly. She couldn’t go too far without a cane. Nearly three years after her hip problem started she decided there must be more wrong since she still could not walk very far.

The doctor scheduled an MRI. Now, there is something you have to understand about Marion. She was not too keen on medical procedures or hospital stays. This stems back to her childhood, when as a very little girl she suffered through scarlet fever in isolation in a hospital; all alone in a hospital room, no awareness of why, no human contact except for the faces in the window of the door. This caused major trauma: she didn’t speak for a year after that, and the fear of all things medical stayed with her throughout her life.

Yet, with prayer and her eyes on the Lord, she continued to go forward trusting God in the process. The results of the MRI showed that her hip was severely arthritic. While she was waiting for a consultation with the surgeon, she heard in her spirit, “Don’t let anyone tell you, you have options.” She discarded that as not something God would say.

The surgeon told her she had two options: she could have a simple injection or she could have an operation. With an operation there was a one per cent chance that something could go wrong. That something involved a myriad of distressing outcomes which the doctor described in detail.

Marion chose the needle which turned out to be painful and did absolutely nothing to improve the condition of her hip. She realized she should have listened to what she had heard in the surgeon’s waiting room. She saw the surgeon again after a few months and ‘the operation’ was arranged for three months ahead. 

While she was journaling one day, Marion heard the Lord say, “I’m your strength. I’m your portion. I will provide everything that you need as you go. Don’t be afraid: you will come through this with flying colours, victorious. In the process you will minister to others and be a blessing. There’s a purpose for this process, it’s not just about you.”

So, Marion subjected herself to the hospital procedure and the Lord gave her absolute peace. She told Him she wanted to be able to dance again and walk normally and believed the Lord when He asked her to trust Him.

When she arrived at the hospital, and during the process she had absolute peace. The night after the operation she slept like a baby. She didn’t need pain medications the next day and was able to walk with a walker. On the third day she came home from the hospital. By the second week she walked into the village and back with the walker, a distance of four kilometres. The third week she could drive and by six weeks she was able to dance. Meanwhile the doctor had suggested it would be a year before full recovery.

Marion knows the Lord healed her. He didn’t do it the way she originally wanted (an instant healing with no medical intervention), but He did one better. Marion admits, “I had a lot of fears surrounding doctors and hospitals. None of that would have been dealt with if I had had a miracle. I learned to trust. What He said was true and came to pass. It was incredible to go through an operation without fear.” She sees her recovery as miraculous, but the biggest miracle for her was being able to go through it without any of the old anxiety.

The Lord impressed upon Marion that the secret is in following Him, in being willing to go through the process without trying to take shortcuts or avoiding the hard places. He told her, “I want my church to be willing to go through the process of healing and wholeness and not just seek me for the immediate results.”