Johann Blumhardt came, to the small German town of
Mottlingen in July of 1938, to be their new pastor. In the spring of 1840 a
family by the name of Dittus, consisting of two brothers and three sisters,
moved into the village. The youngest was Gottliebin, a young girl who struggled
with one illness after another. Gottliebin regularly attended services held by
Blumhardt, but struggled with bizarre reactions to his presence. The girl
became increasingly tormented by sounds, lights, and a sense of physical
presences around her. Late in 1841, Blumhardt prayed for her, but she did not
get better, but in fact got worse. Finally, she came under such attack they
thought she was going to die.
Blumhardt and his close friends began to cry out to God
for wisdom to save this young woman. They searched the scripture for direction
and guidance. One day as he visited the young girl it became clear to him that
something demonic was at work, and he was upset that nothing seemed like it
could be done. Finally he cried out "Gottliebin, put your hands together
and pray, 'Lord Jesus, help me!' We have seen enough of what the devil can do;
now let us see what the Lord Jesus can do!" The attack she was under
stopped, and she sat up and repeated his prayer.
Now Blumhardt understood that this was a battle that had
to be won. Gottliebin improved for only a short time, but then went back into
convulsions. Over the next year there were a series of prayer meetings, where
there seemed some improvement, and then a return to torment for the young girl.
Finally, one night the battle came to a fever pitch and she and her family were
delivered. She improved from that time on and "attained complete health.
All her former ailments, well known to her physicians, completely disappeared -
the high shoulder, the short leg, stomach troubles, and others."
With that dark and difficult chapter closed, "there
came the opening of a new, even more significant one: a widespread movement of
repentance and renewal that changed hundreds of lives and spread far beyond the
town." People began coming to Blumhardt, and writing him letters,
confessing their sins. This began with his youth group, and then moved to the
adults of the village. He says that people came from "from seven o'clock in
the morning until eleven o'clock at night." Prayer meetings were going on
every night, and people from other villages began to come to confess their
sins. Within months, hundreds of people had come to Blumhardt and his
churchyard was full to overflowing. He called this the "Awakening".
One of the important lessons that Blumhardt learned, was
that when people confessed their sins, it was important for him to speak out
forgiveness to them. He would see a weight lift off of them as he laid hands on
them, and spoke forgiveness. He saw how sin would grip people when it operated
in secrecy, but vanished when exposed to the light. Salvation was not something
we should walk in alone, it was important that we walked in openness with
others. Many times people would be healed in his meetings when they confessed
and were forgiven. Everywhere people were under conviction. Disagreements were
settled, stolen goods returned, alcoholics released, and even the smallest
shortages made up.
Miracles and healings began to occur. One day a mother
came running to Blumhardt because she had spilled a pot of boiling oatmeal on
her three year old child. They ran to the house, where many were gathered. The
child was screaming in pain, and covered with burns. Blumhardt picked up the child
and prayed. All pain immediately ceased and the burns were gone within days.
Parents from another village came to Blumhardt because there son had an eye
disease, and a doctor said his only hope was an operation. Blumhardt prayed and
his sight was fully restored within three days. People began flowing in from
all over to receive prayer for their sicknesses. "Infirmities of all kinds
vanished: eye problems, tuberculosis, eczema, arthritis, and more." A
person who was there at the time later said, "There were so many miracles
that I can no longer recall the details. We felt the Lord's nearness so
tangibly that they seemed natural, and no one made a great deal of it."
The government and organized church looked upon this
latest development with disfavor and disgust. At the beginning of 1846 the
government and his superiors would not allow him to "include healing as
part of his pastoral duty instead of directing people to the medical
profession." He asked people to come to the church, listen to the sermon,
and put their needs before Christ. His heart was broken, as people would try to
reach him with their needs, and he could not pray with them. Finally, when he
was told that not only could he not pray for people, but he could not give hope
out of the scriptures, he felt he could no longer obey. He saw that apathy was
once again taking hold in his parish and the Awakening was being lost. He was
not antagonistic to medical help, he just believed that prayer could touch
cases that seemed incurable to physicians.
Eventually, Blumhardt decided to leave Möttlingen. He
purchased a run-down sulphur springs spa in Bad Boll, Germany. Here he was
still considered a pastor of a special parish, and all limitations were lifted
from him. People began to flock to Bad Boll for ministry. He would have as many
as 150 people staying there at a given time. People were regularly healed at
Bad Boll, but Blumhardt asked that these healings not be the focal point of the
ministry. He wanted all of God's gifts to be honored there.
by healingandrevival.com
Titles to Read Online
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Team, SpiritualAlerts.
