Gymnast Turns to God for Healing

A young gymnast turns to God to find healing after she injured her neck preparing for a half-time performance.

By Marjie, CA

Categories: Health

Our gymnastics troupe was asked to perform at the Oakland Coliseum during half time for the Harlem Globe Trotters, when they were popular in the late 1970s. We were all really excited.

The day before the event, we were practicing our routines – dive rolls over each other progressing to back handsprings and flips across the floor. As I did one of my dive rolls, something that was quite easy for me, I landed very wrong and seriously jammed my neck. I couldn't move it at all.

My coaches and my fellow gymnasts were very concerned for me. They assumed I would not be able to perform the next night. We called my parents to pick me up. But at the same time, I reached out to God for comfort and healing. I wanted to perform.

On the drive home, my mom and I sang comforting hymns. When I got home, I lay down on my bed, and we prayed. Even though I was just a young girl, I was positive that God could heal me. I had experienced healings and knew the Bible stories that showed God's power and love. God took care of Joseph, Daniel, and the three boys cast into the fire. David ran to meet Goliath. Jesus opened the eyes of the blind, cured the lame, and raised Jairus' daughter and Lazarus from death. God was right there for all of these people. God could certainly handle a jammed/sprained neck.

I love the 91st Psalm, which says, "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone" (11, 12). I hadn't kicked my foot on a rock, but I had jammed my neck against the floor. I knew the angels could handle that, too – I knew God's angels were tenderly caring for me.

I went to sleep listening to a cassette tape, which included a comforting Bible verse telling me that "the battle is not yours, but God's … set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD" (2 Chron 20:15, 17). I trusted that this was God's battle and that God would take me all the way.

Sure enough, the next morning, my neck was considerably better. I would be able to perform. When we arrived at the Coliseum, all my gymnastics friends were shocked. It didn't seem wise for me to do the flips, but I did everything else. After our rehearsal, before the performance, my friends asked me what I did, how I had healed so quickly. It was God all the way.

That healing at such a young age has been a standby for me throughout my life, reminding me that God's angels are always present. All I need to do is stand still with God and let God do the work.