God is The Great Physician

Personal Testimony of Evangelist Garlena L. Hines

Growing up in church, I would often hear people say, “God is a lawyer in the courtroom and a doctor in the sickroom”. I didn’t understand what this meant, but God has revealed it clearly to me through my recent medical experiences. Many times we receive a diagnosis and fear immediately paralyzes us. Come journey with me as I share this powerful testimony.

August 22, 2011: The day before my birthday, I was scheduled for my annual mammogram and prior to the appointment there were several women who were receiving a diagnosis of breast cancer. Of course the enemy began to place thoughts of fear in me. Through the word of God, I began to cast down those thoughts.

August 25, 2011: I received a letter from the hospital saying there was a concern and I needed to consult my physician to reschedule another mammogram. Immediately, the enemy spoke, “You are going to die from cancer”. For about thirty seconds I became fearful. I thought about all of the plans I have for my daughter, myself, my ministry and my mind was flooded with thoughts of dying at an early age.

August 26. 2011: As I was driving to work I watched people in their cars and/or walking on the street and I wondered if they had cancer or had an okay life. I managed to keep the letter off my mind during the course of the day. Upon returning home, I sat in my favorite chair to relax and the spirit said, “Get up and pray”. I went into my room (my altar) and fervently prayed over the letter and the Spirit said, “It is well. This is a distraction from the enemy to shake your faith and make you walk in fear”. I felt a calmness about the situation and begin to pray as the Lord led me. For about 45 minutes to an hour, I began to intercede for women who have cancer. That day I cried before God with all of my heart. So many were dying from this disease and suffering from the side effects of chemotherapy. Once the prayer was completed, God led me to a seven day fast for these women.

September 6, 2011: The fast was a blessing and the enemy did not stop taunting me with thoughts of death. The enemy would say, “You are going to die”. I would combat it with the word of God--I shall not die but live to declare the works of the Lord. My mind was like a tennis match at times. The enemy would hit the ball of fear and I would hit back with the ball of faith. At 1:30 a.m. the Spirit awakened me and said, “It’s calcium”. I shook my head to make sure I wasn’t talking to myself and I heard it again, “It’s calcium”. I went back to bed preparing for my second mammogram later on that day.

September 7, 2011: My appointment was scheduled for 12:30 p.m. I arrived at the hospital and the Spirit said, “The glory is here and wherever the glory is, everything has to change”. Tears flowed from my eyes and I lifted my hands toward heaven and worshipped. Everything in this hospital has to change because of the glory. As believers, we are glory carriers. I could feel the atmosphere changing. I got myself together and went to my appointment. The technician took the second mammogram and stated if they saw the spot again, they would have to conduct an ultrasound. I sat in the waiting room and was informed that they needed to conduct the ultrasound. As I lay on the table I begin to sing in the Spirit. The enemy was becoming more and more persistent and so was the spirit of God. Songs of healing, scriptures of His divine healing power were coming to my mind. I laid there singing, “Power in the blood”, “At Calvary”, “Jesus paid it all”, songs that talked about the power of Jesus Christ. The technician said, “Excuse me, I need to go see the radiologist”. The enemy said they found cancer. The technician returned and said, “The radiologist wants me to look a little further because I can’t find anything”. I laughed in the spirit and said, “You can’t find, what’s not there”. She took the ultrasound for the second time looking for this spot. After 5-6 minutes she said, “I need to have the radiologist check you, I can’t find the spot.”

The radiologists came in and explained that he saw a spot on my first and second mammogram. Then he said, “You have micro-calcification, which is a ‘calcium’ build up”. Wait a minute, did you say “calcium?” God diagnosed the problem before the radiologists said anything to me. He is the great physician. The radiologists’ concern was this spot was not attached to the other calcium deposits and because the ultrasound could not reveal if it was malignant or benign, he was ordering a biopsy.

September 8, 2011: As I was preparing for bed I turned to TBN, Praise the Lord. One of the guests for that night was a pastor who was diagnosed with a rare case of cancer. He began having excruciating pain in his leg and thought he had broken a bone, but learned he was in stage 4 of this cancer. The enemy plagued his mind with thoughts of death and he, too, fought the enemy with the same scriptures God had given me. He began to share how he couldn’t sleep at night because of the pain and one night he prayed over a shawl and covered himself with it. Today this pastor is cancer-free, preaching and teaching the healing power of Jesus Christ. As I watched that program the Spirit led me to pray over my handkerchief as a proxy for women with cancer. I took my red handkerchief, anointed it and begin to pray for those women.

September 14, 2011: I went back to the hospital and as I was walking in the building I reminded myself that the glory was still with me. The nurse explained the procedure and the doctor conducted the biopsy. I lay on the table rejoicing and being anxious for this praise report. Once the procedure was over, the doctor told me it would be 3 days before the results were back and he would give me a call. The technician was patching the incision and she began to tell me how much her 13 year old son loves Jesus. What?? Did she say Jesus? Well, that opened up a conversation for us to talk about the power of Jesus. The nurse had to take a picture of the biopsy incision and she said, “I hope all is well with the results”. I looked at her and said, “I’ve prayed about it and God told me I was fine”. She smiled and said, “I know what you mean”.

September 20, 2011: I received the long awaited call. The biopsy is benign, BUT there are additional micro-calcifications that we need to test. They now wanted to schedule me for another biopsy. The general surgeon wanted to ensure that I was healed from the first biopsy before scheduling the second biopsy.

November 28, 2011: I was preparing for the second biopsy and the enemy was again persistent with is lies. I was standing on the word and once I arrived at the hospital, the Spirit said, “I am the same God”. I laid on the table and there were a few problems detecting the spot. After minutes of being uncomfortable, the biopsy was complete. That night was the most uncomfortable night of my life. The pain from the biopsy was so excruciating that I could not move my right arm or lay on my right side. The enemy brought the thought that the cancer is moving through your body. I had to combat it with the word and understood that fear would cancel out my faith.

December 2, 2011: I received the report of the LORD…No cancer. I immediately began praying for women who had not received that report. The word says rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

During this ordeal here are some important lessons I learned:

• It increased my level of faith. I love singing and shouting, but it was the power of the word that kept me through this ordeal.
• Once God spoke the word that I was fine, there was no reason for me to have anyone to pray about this situation. I did not share it because it was settled in heaven and it had manifested itself in my life.
• Although I walked away with a good report, my journey did not stop there. There are women who need someone interceding for their healing.
• Everything has to bow at the name of JESUS. This includes micro-calcifications, cancer, diabetes, etc.
• JESUS is the GREAT PHYSICIAN.

I pray this testimony will bless you and whatever you are facing, know that Jesus is the great physician.