If you haven’t yet read Part 1 of this article, no worries, you can actually do that later. It talks about the Healing ability in Redemption, but this part of the article is actually the really cool story.

A little over nine years ago I was in college and a member of the basketball team. We were having a spring open gym to help stay in shape during the off-season and having spent two years on the JV squad, I really wanted to improve my chances at making Varsity so I played every chance I got. One day during a game I was running down the court to play defense when the ball came loose a few feet behind me. I attempted to stop, turn and change direction all in one motion and in that instant my left knee gave out. I crumpled to the court knowing something very bad had happened. A couple guys helped me down to the trainer’s room and although he couldn’t be sure, the trainer suspected damage to my ACL. They gave me a brace and crutches so I could get around, and then a couple days later when the swelling had gone down, my mom took me to see a specialist to find out how bad the damage was. When the MRI results came back, the news was not good—torn ACL and partial tear of the meniscus. I was stunned. The doctor said I didn’t necessarily need to have surgery as it would eventually regain some strength and stability, but if I wanted to play sports I would always be at risk for doing further damage. I decided to hold off on surgery since I knew I would need to work over the summer in order to pay for school the following year. As the doctor predicted, after a few months I regained some strength and didn’t really have any pain unless I bent my knee certain ways. I was even able to play basketball again, but could never go at 100% speed like I once had. I wasn’t likely to make the basketball varsity team, so I decided to not do surgery at that point and just play pick-up basketball where I could play a little safer.

Over the past nine years, I’ve been able to participate in most sports, but there have times when I’ve twisted my knee or planted on it wrong, and it gave out, which often meant a few weeks of hobbling around. The most recent time was this past November while playing basketball. For almost two months I had pain and soreness not to mention the frustration of not being able to play basketball. Not being in a position to afford surgery, I simply had to wait for some strength to build up again, which it finally did and I was able to play again but still with the knowledge that I had to be very careful and not go all out.

A couple weeks ago, I went to a young adult worship night at my church, and after some opening songs, the guy leading said they were going to continue worship but also have people available to pray for physical healing. As I sang, I started to get a feeling that I was supposed to go up for prayer. Immediately doubt crept in however. “It’s been nine years, why now?” “You can still play basketball, why bother?” “It’s not like you’re in a wheelchair, other people have more pressing needs, why should you be healed?” As these questions raced around in my head, I suddenly felt the Spirit speak to my heart in a strong but gentle voice, “WHY NOT?” The voices of doubt began to fade and I knew I needed to go for prayer. I walked over to Jon and Cheryl, two of the leaders in our youth program and told them about my knee and that whatever happened, I just felt I needed to be prayed over. As they began to pray, my brother Jonathan walked over and also began praying with them as he had seen more than anyone the frustration I experienced when my knee kept me from playing sports. After we all prayed, Cheryl shared that she had a sense that God was going to heal my knee unexpectedly—like I would be running and all of a sudden it would be healed without me even realizing it had happened. I thought that would be awesome and returned to my seat to continue worshipping. My knee didn’t feel any different, but I hadn’t experienced any daily pain since recovering from the injury in November so I couldn’t tell if anything had happened. It wasn’t like I could start playing basketball during a worship service so I just kept standing there. Once again, the Spirit spoke to my heart, “Try kneeling” and it hit me that in the past nine years I always had pain if I knelt on my left knee. Again the voices of doubt tried to creep in, “What if it still hurts?” “What if you’re just feeling emotional?” “Why put a damper on this night?” but then I remembered the voice of truth, “Why not?” Slowly I got down on my knees. I froze. My left knee felt exactly the same as my right knee. I wasn’t sure how to react. I stayed kneeling for a few minutes and then got back up as the band continued to lead in worship. I decided to try again just to be sure and once again I got down on my knees. Same thing—no pain in my left knee. I started laughing silently to myself as joy filled my heart. A few minutes after that, the band played the last song and the leader closed in prayer. Still smiling, I walked over to Jon and Cheryl and said, “So, I think I just got healed.” I told them about how I always had pain when kneeling and with a huge grin on my face, I knelt in front of them and laughed. A minute later I walked over to Jonathan, “Dude, my knee is healed.” “Wait, wha…?” “Yeah so that just happened.” That will certainly be a night I never forget…

Two days after that night, I played basketball for an hour, then played two games of softball and later that night played basketball for another two hours—all without pain and not once wearing the knee brace I had come to rely on to give my knee a bit more stability.

So why not? Why not ask Him for healing? Our God is a God of healing. Sometimes it happens suddenly, sometimes it happens nine years later and sometimes it happens in eternity.

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By Justin

Justin began playing Redemption in 1997 with his brothers and a few other friends from his church though it was not until 2002 that he discovered and became a part of the wider Redemption community. While his involvement in the game includes being a tournament host, a playtester and a national champion player, the aspect he finds most rewarding is the amazing friends he has met through the game. "I am simply amazed at what God has done through the game of Redemption, both in my life and in the lives of others, and I am excited for the ways in which He will continue to use it."