This last Sunday I gave a testimony in church that may seem a little unusual (but hey...that is kind of my M.O.). I thanked God that I sneezed this last weekend. Everyone kind of laughed probably thinking (as you do) that thanking God for sneezing is silly. It's not...let me tell you. The reason I give thanks for sneezing is because I haven't sneezed in over a month. The end of July I fractured my nose and dislocated my septum (by punching myself in the face...long story and if you really want the details email me and I'll give them to you). I then had surgery to fix my nose, which by the way leaves a person in extreme pain...so I can't recommend anyone getting a nose-job just for vanity, but I must admit my nose looks good now :-).
Anyways, I was not allowed to sneeze while my nose was healing and I certainly wasn't going to sneeze before this (not that we usually have any choice about the matter, but you get the gist). So I hadn't sneezed in a month and last week I had my final check-up for my nose and got the good report that everything looks good. Then this weekend while driving home from Minneapolis (went to a Vikings game where they lost it in the last couple minutes) suddenly...I sneezed! And it didn't feel hurt. It was just a little discomforting. YAY for sneezing.
Why do I bring this up here? Because there is even a story in Scripture where a sneeze (7 to be precise) was a testimony to healing. In 2 Kings 4 there is an account of Elisha who visits a Shunammite woman whom God miraculously gives a son. Then the son one day suddenly has a pain in his head, is carried to his mother, where he dies in her lap. The mother sends for Elisha, but Elisha sends his servant Gehazi on ahead with Elisha's staff to place on the boy and bring about the boys healing. It doesn't work. Elisha arrives and when he does he shuts himself in with the dead boy, prays and even lays himself on top of the child...the child "warms", but is not brought back. Then we read the following:
Elisha got up, walked back and forth across the room once, and then stretched himself out again on the child. This time the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes! (2Ki 4:35 NLT -- emphasis mine)The boy is raised to life and this is testified to by his sneezing! So I've discovered that sneezing can indeed be a wonderful testimony. Again...PRAISE THE LORD FOR SNEEZING!
We have someone in our congregation who sneezes almost every Sunday during the service. I sometime's say "God bless you," but now I can share that she has already been blessed.
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