The Bible records people’s experiences with God. If we will listen, in their stories we can find answers for our own lives. But in the lives of men of God in more recent generations, we can also find answers for our lives.
Norvel Hayes was a minister who went home to be with the Lord in October 2018. He had some experiences with God that I continue to tell about because we can find help in them.
He told the testimony of his teenage daughter who had 46 growths on her hands. He didn’t know as much about faith and believing God then as he did later, and he had been praying for years for God to heal the growths on his daughter’s body. One day, as he was walking through his house, his spirit left his body – he was taken to Heaven and stood before Jesus.
Jesus asked him, “How long are YOU going to put up with those growths on your daughter’s body?”
Brother Norvel answered, “What do You mean?”
“I said, how long are YOU going to put up with those growths on your daughter’s body? If you will curse those things in My Name, they will die and disappear. If you will believe and not doubt – just like I did with the fig tree. Talk to it. That’s a mountain in your life. Talk to it, tell it what you want done, and it will obey you if you do it in My Name. Curse the roots of those growths. They will die and wither away and disappear if you will believe and not doubt.”
Brother Norvel said, “When I came back from Heaven, I went into my daughter’s room and laid my hands on her, and I cursed those things, and about 40 days later they disappeared in a moment of time. They didn’t just gradually disappear, but instantly disappeared. I knew it was going to happen. I didn’t know when, but I refused to doubt.”
Jesus asked him, “How long are YOU going to put up with those growths on your daughter’s body?” Brother Norvel was waiting for GOD to do something about those growths, but Jesus let him know that God was waiting on HIM to do something about them with his authority.
Jesus was rebuking Brother Norvel for putting up with those growths on his daughter’s body. In listening to this account, the thing that stands out to me is when Jesus asked him, “How long are YOU going to put up with...?”
We could apply that same question to many of our own situations. “How long are you going to put up with...” sickness, pain, symptoms, addictions, depression, a troubled mind with bombarding, harassing thoughts, fear, poverty, lack, bad habits, strife, unforgiveness, and offense?
How long are we going to have something we don’t want? As long as we put up with it. Most of the time, people don’t even recognize what they’re putting up with. We will have in our life what WE PUT UP WITH. Our life is a picture of what we are putting up with. Our lives are full of what we are putting up with. If we don’t like what we have, we need to quit putting up with it.
Brother Norvel would ask, “How long are you going to put up with those crooked legs?” If you give that crooked leg a choice, it will remain crooked. By being silent, by not talking to it, you are giving it a choice.
How long are you going to put up with stomach issues, back trouble, joint problems, etc...? If you give those things a choice, they will remain.
The Hebrews that were delivered out of Egypt put up with the wilderness accommodations for 40 years too long. The second generation quit putting up with what the first generation put up with.
So many Christians are waiting for God to do something about their situation, and God is waiting for THEM to talk to their mountains – to use the authority He gave them to deal with it. Jesus told Norvel the reason those growths were still there was because HE HADN’T TALKED TO THEM. He was talking to God about the growths when he should have been talking to the growths about God!
We are to turn our mouths loose on what God says. Speak to the mountain, but don’t let the mountain be your focus and have your attention – have your attention on what God says.
Mark 11:22 & 23 reads, “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” Verse 23 is primarily saying this – things will obey you, so talk to them!
God SPOKE the world into existence. Our lives are controlled by our tongues. Our tongue controls everything in our lives. If we will put in an all-out effort toward the Word, feeding on it, speaking it, and acting on it, it won’t take long for our answer to manifest.