Saturday, November 16, 2019

The Miracle of Partial Hearing



"As he (Jesus) went along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.""- John 9:1-3

As I sat in the audience listening to Andrea Bocelli in concert recently, I closed my eyes and focused on the beautiful melodies of the symphony, while the most amazing singing voice I've ever heard belted out one incredible song after the next.  I thanked God for being able to have this experience, because it almost didn't turn out that way.

When I was a toddler and could start to talk, my parents would hand the phone to me to talk to my grandparents. But they noticed something strange - I would always switch the phone to my left ear.  They took me to an audiologist, who gave them the grim news: I was completely deaf in my right ear, and only had partial hearing in my left ear. After running multiple tests, they were told it was likely I was going to be completely deaf in my left ear too, so they needed to prepare me for life with no hearing by learning sign language.

My parents didn't accept the doctors' reports.  Having attended Oral Roberts University and believing for supernatural healing, they sent out prayer requests to ministries, family members, and friends far and wide. I was taken to local churches known for healing ministries and prayed over multiple times.

Sure enough, I did not see a decline in my hearing.  In fact, when I was taken back for additional follow up tests, the doctors were surprised to see that my left ear had almost "perfect" hearing, better than average and at levels they rarely see!  Fast-forward to today, and at 45 years old I have maintained these hearing levels and rarely notice any issues from being deaf in one ear.  And unless I make it a point to tell people, they would never know of my condition.

But what if my parents had not believed that healing is for today, as many churches wrongly teach?  What if they had not had the faith to petition for prayer, and do all they could do to ensure I was given a chance for supernatural healing?  I am thankful that I was born into believing parents who refused to accept what was seen in the natural, and believed God had a different plan for my life.

While I have always been grateful for my miracle of partial hearing, I used to wonder why I wasn't completely healed - if one ear could be restored, why were both not healed? I have sought prayer many times for complete hearing in both ears, walking into many healing rooms and alter ministries for prayer, with the faith and belief that I would walk away healed.  And my faith has been tested when I didn't get the result I expected.  But recently my church pastor told the story of a woman born with brown eyes, when everyone in her family and that part of the world had blue eyes.  Being seen as "different," she prayed every day for God to give her blue eyes, and was disappointed when her prayers weren't answered.  Later on though, she entered into the mission field in India.  She was able to sneak into temples where girls were being held captive as shrine prostitutes and rescue them, because she had brown eyes that would not give her away as a foreigner.  God then showed her that she was given brown eyes for just that purpose. It was during this story that God spoke to me and gave me the same insight, that there is a purpose for my partial hearing.

This story has two lessons.  First, I can testify from my experience that healing does happen today, that your current situation can be changed with the supernatural touch of God.  And second, even if you don't get the outcome you expected through prayer, continue to trust God, knowing He created you as part of His master plan, and that all things will work out according to His perfect will.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, 
who have been called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28

- Adam Gellert
adamgellert.com