Background

I had been struggling with health problems since I was a child. I often had headaches, couldn’t sleep well and had problems with my digestion. As I grew up with these symptoms, I didn’t even realize for a long time that something was wrong with me. Over time, however, the symptoms got worse and I started to look for the cause. In tenth grade, I finally realized that consuming milk made the symptoms worse. So I started to avoid dairy products. This improved my condition somewhat, but over the years I still got worse again. Towards the end of my bachelor’s degree, I felt so bad most of the time that I had hardly any energy left to fulfill my daily tasks. However, I had observed that my condition changed depending on what I ate. To identify the exact cause, I ate nothing but rice and water for a week. After that, I started testing different staple foods day by day. When I ate only spelt pasta for a day and my digestion clearly reacted to it, I realized that gluten was also a problem. Over time, I discovered other intolerances, such as allium plants (e.g. onion or garlic) and fatty foods in general. In the end, I only ate rice with vegetables at home. I had to be very careful with friends or in restaurants, as it took almost a month for my digestion to recover from even the smallest amounts of problematic food. In most restaurants, apart from a salad, there was nothing else I could eat. In some restaurants, I couldn’t even find anything suitable on the menu.

Several doctors were also unable to help me. In gastroenterology, I was finally diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, which I was told to treat by giving up all foods that I couldn’t tolerate.

The day of healing (12.8.2024)

I was on vacation with my family in Austria in August 2024. Due to the beautiful weather, we decided to spend the day at a swimming lake and had a really nice time there. At around 3 pm, we made our way back to the hotel to eat some cake. The buffet included a gluten- and lactose-free cheesecake. Without giving it much thought, I grabbed a slice. At first I wondered how you can bake such a good cake without milk, until I remembered that lactose-free in this case meant that lactose-free quark was used in the baking process. That was a problem, because I had no problem with lactose, but I did have a problem with milk protein. By this time, however, I had already eaten the piece of cake.

In the evening, when I was already in bed, I felt the first symptoms. However, I had planned a very challenging mountain hike for the next day and couldn’t use an unrestful night and a weakened body right then. So I tried to claim Jesus’ healing for myself in faith. Because it is written in the Word of God that Jesus has already paid for our healing and that anyone who has faith (i.e. trust, a firm conviction) will receive this healing if they ask for it.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. ~ Isaiah 53,5

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ~ Mark 11,24

But there was still doubt in my heart as to whether the healing would work. Frustrated by my unbelief, I said half to myself, half to God: “Where is my faith now?”. Then suddenly the Holy Spirit began to speak through me: “Enemy, you have kept this body in bondage long enough. But Jesus has triumphed, he has overcome, yes, he has more than overcome. I have been bought by his blood. I belong to him and you have no right to me!”. As I spoke these words, it was as if I was addressing Satan directly, as if I was targeting him with my words. I also saw in my mind’s eye how a kind of bond that had existed between me and the enemy and represented his influence on my life was being torn apart. His influence had no power over me because I saw that I was standing in the Kingdom of God where Jesus reigns and the enemy has no power.

After these words and impressions, I was initially very surprised at what had just happened. However, I realized that I was still not convinced of my healing. Shortly afterwards, the narrator of the Bible audio book, which I always leave on overnight while I sleep, read out the Bible passage Acts 19,6:

When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. ~ Acts 19,6

When I heard these words, I felt the Holy Spirit begin to work in me again. He brought about a supernatural faith in me and I was suddenly convinced of my healing. Out of joy and gratitude, I stayed awake for a long time thinking about what had just happened. It was only around 2 a.m. that I was able to fall asleep, still filled with joy.

The following day

I got up early the next day and quickly prepared for the planned mountain tour. It was going to be from Gaistal to the Zugspitze, with a 19 km ascent, 25 km descent and a total of 2,600 meters of altitude. Believing I was cured, I ate a cheese roll in the morning and set off quickly. I reached the summit after 5 hours in less than half the estimated time and with only 0.75 liters of water in my pack. Without my cure, I wouldn’t have made it in this time and would have needed a lot more water, as dairy products always made me very thirsty due to my intolerance. I had to hurry on the way back as I had a thunderstorm behind me. As a result, I reached the valley quickly enough to walk the last 10 km to the hotel without arriving too late for dinner. In the end, the tour took just under 12 hours and I ran just over a whole marathon in total. In my eyes, it was a perfect tour from start to finish, and I couldn’t have planned it that way. I am firmly convinced that God gave me this day to show me that I am really healthy and how good and brilliant it is. Back at the hotel, I had no concerns about going to the buffet to get a variety of delicacies such as Käsespätzle or minced beef with sauce, which I would not even have touched 24 hours earlier. Praise the lord!