The Very Ordinary Mrs. Chang and her Faithful Nurse.

“Can God spread a table in the desert?” “…Can He supply meat for His people?” “They turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel” (Psalm 78:19, 20, 41; King James Version, emphasis added).

For 21 years, Mrs. Chang had been confined to her bed at home in China, unable to move her arms and legs. Finally, the pain became too much, and she asked her eldest son to take her to the hospital, 40 miles away. The doctors discovered that some of her organs were nearly dead, so they advised her son, "Take her home so she can die with your family." But before she left, a Christian nurse came by her bed and handed her a copy of the Gospel of Mark. "Read this when you get home," she whispered. When Mrs. Chang arrived home, she first asked her son to read something from the booklet. Opening it to page one, he began: "This is the good news of Jesus Christ..." Before he could read any further, Mrs. Chang's bones started to move. Within moments, she sat up, completely healed! She immediately gave her life to the Lord.

The next day, on her way to the village well to draw water, everyone asked her, "Say, aren't you Mrs. Chang? What doctor healed you? We want to use him too!" Mrs. Chang invited all the women to her simple home. When a large group gathered, she stood and began speaking: "This is the good news of Jesus Christ..." In just four weeks, all 600 people in the village decided to follow Jesus! The story gets even more interesting from there: When news spread, a police force arrived to suppress this "new sect." They beat the villagers, shot their animals, burned their crops, and then left, expecting to hear nothing more about Jesus Christ. But they were mistaken: the 600 converts remained steadfast, and within four years, 70,000 people across the region had turned to Christ. Who was the star of this story? The faithful nurse. She was not a famous evangelist; she was a nobody who responded to a need with love in her heart.

We live in a time when God wants to use ordinary people like you and me, if we put our faith in Christ and refuse to limit what God can or cannot do. Roger Bannister, the record-breaking runner, achieved something that once seemed impossible. He ran a mile in less than four minutes. Other runners believed it was impossible for a man to run that fast. But once Bannister proved it could be done, guess what happened? The following year, 37 more runners broke the four-minute mile! The year after that, 300 others also ran the mile in under four minutes. What changed? The measurement of time stayed the same. The only difference was that more runners believed what was possible could be achieved. We are the ones who place limits on what God can do in us and through us. Our biggest obstacle in living a life in step with the Spirit and moving in His power is ourselves:

Satan seeks to influence God’s called-out people (The Church) not to see the ramifications of what God has done for us through the cross. Our spiritual eyes need to be opened to Christ’s “incomparably great power for us who believe” (Ephesians 1:19). God wants to use every one of us in different ways if we step out and trust Him. Due to our relationship of oneness with Christ, authority and power have been given to true believers in Christ as His representatives. We are to re-present Him, no matter how young or how old we are in Christ. Keith Thomas