It’s believed that, for thousands of years, certain members of human clans would wield some kind of magic stick. For example, here’s one — carved to look like a viper — that was found in Finland. They claim it’s over 4,000 years old:
In some cultures, if the shaman or medicine man pointed such a stick at someone, that person would be immediately stricken dead. Stories abound — across the globe — of precisely this happening.
In many indigenous clans, the members would be raised to fear this stick from early childhood and thus, never do anything to cause it to be aimed at them. After centuries of conditioning, this conviction became sacrosanct.
Even if that stick contained no magic at all, belief alone would facilitate their fright-filled demise.
This, my friends, is a version of walking by faith.
The human mind is a powerful entity. It can blur the lines between prayer fulfillment and manifestation (or am I being redundant?).
Case in point: There was a woman who had suffered from a bleeding disorder for 12 years until she was healed by Jesus. Rather than me trying to type out the specifics, I’ll share a clip from the incredible show, The Chosen.
Below, we see Jesus making his way to heal a rabbi’s daughter who was believed to be close to death. (Interestingly, the rabbi was affiliated with the Pharisees but opted to trust the evidence of his senses instead of self-serving dogma.) Along the way, Jesus encounters the sick woman:
In case anyone is wondering, here’s what happens by the time he gets to the rabbi’s house:
As I look around at the state of the world and the state of the people who claim to want positive change, I can see that far more of us must be practicing this level of manifesting faith for the forces of good to prevail.
In order to defeat evil, we must first believe we can and will defeat evil.