Part 1: God's lightning rod

John G. Lake's struggle for life began the day he was born - March 18, 1870.

Born in Canada, Lake was one of 16 children. And like many of his brothers and sisters, he grew up with a strange digestive disease that nearly killed him. For nine years he suffered with the disease and the unpleasant treatments that were necessary to keep him alive.

While Lake managed to somehow survive, eight of his siblings didn't. One by one they died and funerals, tears and grief eventually overshadowed his childhood. Lake's memories were filled with the cries of his parents.

All this heartache only made Lake more painfully and keenly aware of the fact that sickness was something bad, something evil. In all his life he never saw any good come out of it. As Lake grew older this overexposure to sickness and sorrow sparked in him a rare and intense desire for the power of God. It was this driving passion that would not let John G. Lake rest until he had found a way to beat sickness, disease... and even death itself.

In the church where he grew up, miracles and supernatural healing never seemed much of an option. If anything, the church people to whom he looked for help spent a lot of time trying to convince him that God meant life's traumas and tragedies for his good. Somehow, Lake could never quite see the good for all the suffering around him. So he kept looking for his miracle.

At age 16, Lake moved with his family to the United States and it was there that he was saved as a result of a Salvation Army meeting and joined the Methodist Church. But still, sickness would not loosen its death grip on Lake and his family.

Finally, he could wait no longer - something had to be done. And it looked like it would be up to him to do it. He later wrote, "There was nobody to pray for me... As I sat alone, I said, ' Lord, I am finished with the world and the flesh, with the doctor and with the devil. From today, I lean on the arm of God.'"

At that moment, there was no evident sign of healing or any other manifestation of God's power in his body. Yet, one thing was certain, Lake had consecrated himself to God. And though it may not have looked like it on the outside, he knew on the inside that the disease was gone. He was that determined.

As Lake grew to be a young man, he suffered yet another ailment. Rheumatism was causing his legs to grow out of shape and distort his body.

Again, his church couldn't offer him the results that he passionately sought. His pastor told him, "Brother, you are glorifying God." Other church people said, "Brother, be patient and endure it." And for a while, Lake believed them - but he was still deformed. What Good News was there in that? Where was the powerful gospen that had been able to save him?

What Lake really wanted was another miracle. So again, his heart stretched out toward God. As he did, a flash of truth pierced the deception of his mind, and in the light of God's Word, Lake caught a glimpse of God's will.

"I discovered that [disease] was not the will of God at all, but the will of the dirty, crooked-legged devil that wanted to make me like himself.

Laying down everything, Lake went to Alexander Dowie in Chicago and there the power of God surged through his body and straightened his legs. Lake caught hold of the power of God, and the fact that Christianity is "a strong man's gospel." For the first time he saw how God wanted a race of people who are bold, strong, pure, good and blessed. He saw how the signs and wonders of the New Testament were meant for his day - and every day!

John Lake left Chicago healed. He also left with a bold gospel that declared healing for everyone - even the unsaved and the unchurched.

Though Lake had been born a sickly child in the 20th century as a lightning rod stretched between heaven and earth, just waiting to be struck by the very "lightning of God," as he later called it. And with each release of God's powerthat eventually charged his life, Lake in turn electrified the modern world.

As I read this short life story of John G. Lake, it really stirred something in my heart, inspiring me to go read more about the great revivalists of the past, to see what was it in their lives that made the difference. This is especially impacting to me because of my personal life experience that I'm going through at the moment.

Here's something to think about: What about you today? Do you dare to make the same consecration that Lake made to Christ as a kid, and mean it as much as he did? I'm really challenged to make such a commitment myself even though when you really think about it, it is something so basic, something so simple, yet it changed his entire life forever. You will read more about him as I post more in future.

Derek