Matthew 17:14
“When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus, and knelt before him.,
15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.
16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
17 “O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied. “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me!”
18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Moving Mountains
Jesus said that with just a little faith we will be blessed beyond our expectations. My hesitant first steps set me on a journey in faith to do what scientists said was impossible – bring hearing to profoundly deaf people by stimulating the auditory nerve electrically. As the difficulties and criticisms became greater the Holy Spirit supplied the extra faith needed. As He promised in Isaiah 42:3 ” A bruised reed he will not break”. In fact at my times of greatest weakness and dependency on God I saw the magnificent unfolding of His purposes. Now there are tens of thousands* of profoundly deaf alongside hearing people living in a world of sound. Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your Name.
(* As of October, 2022, the number of cochlear implants has now passed one million, in 170 countries! – Ed)
Professor Graeme Clark developed the multi-channel cochlear implant, or bionic ear, giving hearing to deaf adults and children.