The great physician is still practicing

Dr. Catherine Hamlin has been described by The New York Times as “the new Mother Teresa of our age.” For many years this gallant woman labored alongside her husband in Ethiopia, performing more than 25,000 surgeries, giving dignity and hope to women whose lives had been shattered by complications in childbirth.

Over a period of time this woman who had helped so many herself developed a chronic cough. The prognosis was not good. X-rays showed a lesion in her lung. Before treatment began, however, Dr. Hamlin attended a prayer service when an unknown woman put her hand on her shoulder and prayed that her lungs would be healed. After the prayer, Dr. Hamlin turned to the stranger, a person who did not know her, and asked the obvious question, “How did you know I had anything the matter with my lungs?” The woman replied that she had been prompted by the Spirit of God to pray for her. Then Dr. Hamlin revealed that a tumor had been discovered.

Days later, having flown back to her native England, Dr. Hamlin was admitted to London’s Hammersmith Hospital where a biopsy was scheduled. A CAT scan was ordered to confirm the diagnosis. The radiologist’s diagnosis: “We can’t find anything the matter with your lungs.”

Dr. Hamlin, a surgeon herself, could never be convinced that prayer was the agency that God used to bring healing to her lungs. The natural mind can never fully fathom how the hand of God touches some with healing but extends His grace to others. And what God has not revealed, neither can I explain. But the fact is that God is sovereign, and does what He chooses to bring glory to His name. The Great Physician is still practicing. Trust Him for what He alone can do.

Used with permission from Guidelines International Ministries. To learn more about Guidelines and the ministry, send an e-mail to [email protected]. You may also visit www.guidelines.org.