Written by Joe Urbanski

At the time I had only been a Christian for about a year, so this walk was very new to me. I was the West Dodge nighttime janitor then, so very few people knew me. I have gout and am subject to random flare-ups with little or no warning.

One day I had a very severe flare-up and my whole right arm swelled up so that I wasn’t able to use it at all. Several people prayed over me like Pastor Jim, Pastor Brian, and Mike Martin. It didn’t help, so for about three weeks I tried as best I could to do everything left-handed.

One night as I started to go home, I wasn’t able to push the door open with my left hand. I believe it was because my left hand wasn’t used to doing all the work and was just sore. As I lay in bed, I thought, “Joe, you’re in a heap of trouble!” It was then that I simply said, “God, would you give me back the use of my hands”. Almost instantly I noticed my left arm no longer hurt. My right arm was still swollen, but the pain seemed less.

There was no doubt in my mind that this was God’s doing. The first thing I thought was I’ve got to thank Him. As I was lying there trying to think of some glorious sounding words like I heard Pastor Les say, nothing was coming to me. I started to get frustrated because I wanted to thank Him but couldn’t think of anything appropriate. It was then that this thought dropped suddenly on me, “Joe, He’s not listening to your words, He’s listening to your heart”. That’s when I lost it! Now I’m crying, and even when I try to tell this story, I couldn’t get it out without crying. It also took about a week but my right arm returned to normal with no other medication needed. For a new believer who spent most of my life running from God, this was positive proof that He was and will always be there for me.