Yesterday I went to a local nail salon to get a pedicure and a manicure. (This is not a common occurrence for me, it was a special pre-holiday “treat yo’ self” thing!) It was my first time at this particular salon. When I walked in, the atmosphere of idol worship assailed my senses and I immediately started praying in tongues under my breath. The salon was staffed by Vietnamese women and men and there were prevalent statues of Buddha around the room. As I was praying quietly, joy filled my heart because I realized that the atmosphere of heaven can even come into places like this! The darkness cannot withstand the light of heaven! I noticed I was starting to get a headache, which is customary for me in atmospheres of spiritual heaviness; but this time, instead of accepting it, I just welcomed the peace of the Holy Spirit to cover me from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. The headache went away and did not come back.
My nail artist was a lovely older Vietnamese woman named Kim. We visited at first, but then I spent the majority of my pedicure looking at my phone. She got my attention when she accidentally caused not one, but both of my big toes to bleed a little bit. Thankfully I was still feeling the peace of the Holy Spirit, and I was able to be gracious. (His peace is THE BEST! It keeps me from doing and saying things I regret!)
As we moved over to the manicure station, I had a thought. If she had pain in her body, where would it be? I felt she had pain in her neck. But it seemed as if it was just my imagination coming up with this. I asked the Lord if it was my imagination, and I felt like he said, “My daughter, be at peace. Yes, she does have pain in her neck.” I wasn’t quite sure what to do with this information at this time and to be honest, I was still doubtful as to whether I was making this up or not.
I struck up a conversation with Kim when I noticed the necklace she was wearing. It had a beautiful little medallion with a figure on it that I did not recognize. I had a feeling it might be Buddha or another similar god. I asked her about it and she said it was one of her gods, but she could never remember its name. She pulled up Google translate and showed me a very long name, but she still wasn’t entirely sure if it was correct. I had a moment of feeling really sad for her that she did not even know her god’s name. I know the name of my God, but what’s even better is that He knows my name. He knows Kim’s name too and everything else about her, as would soon become obvious. I told her the necklace was beautiful and lapsed back into silence while she worked.
As I sat there, I thought, “I wonder how long she’s been in the United States?” Immediately I thought, probably twenty-five years. Then I wondered how many kids she had, and I thought, she has two sons. The answers in my head were so specific, I was wondering if these were words of knowledge from the Holy Spirit or just my imagination. So I asked her, “How long have you been in the United States?”
“Twenty-five years,” she answered. Interesting!
“How many children do you have?” I asked.
“Two sons,” she replied, and I laughed and just about fell out of my chair. I had to cover my reaction, as she was surprised at my laughter, so I said something lame about sons being “fun”.
I thought, okay, Holy Spirit, I see what you did there! If you are giving me specific words of knowledge about this woman, than you are most certainly telling me she has pain in her neck. It is not just my imagination. I waited a bit longer and was tempted to get nervous, but Holy Spirit gently shifted my focus away from myself and onto how much He loved Kim and how desperate He was for her to know His love. So I asked her, “Do you have pain in your neck?”
She said “Oh, yes!” She began to tell me about the terrible pain she has in her neck, and then she stopped suddenly and asked, “How did you know?”
I said, “My God’s name is Jesus, and He is the Healer. He told me you had pain in your neck because He wants to heal it today. He wants to heal you to show you that He’s real and He loves you.”
She said, “Oh thank you, thank you.” Her face looked transformed by surprise at the love and kindness she was receiving. I asked her if I could pray for her healing. She said, “Oh yes, thank you.” She did not understand I was asking to pray right then and there; she thought I was going to head home and keep her in my “thoughts and prayers”. Not this girl! Not today!
“Can I pray for you right now?” I asked. She was surprised but seemed pleased. I put my hand on her arm and in Jesus’ name I commanded the pain to go and for the neck to be healed. I invited the Holy Spirit to come on her with His presence and His peace. Her eyes closed and I could tell she was experiencing something.
I asked her how she felt, and with a look of complete surprise on her face, she rolled her head around and said, “It’s loose! It feels looser! Easier to move!” She still had a little pain, so I asked if I could pray again for complete healing. I prayed the same fast and simple prayer again, and her neck was even looser this time! She just kept saying, “Thank you! Thank you!”
At this point, one of the men who worked there came over and they began conversing in their Vietnamese language. I was disappointed because I wanted to keep talking to her about Jesus, but I respected the fact that she was working (and he was too). They were concentrating on this little box of nail decals, and eventually I found out that they wanted to give me some nail decals for free! It was the only way they could think of to respond to the love of Jesus that they had felt in that moment. I was so touched. The fact is, I had wanted some nail decals, but didn’t want to pay the extra cost, so I said nothing. Here was my God, showing off again; giving me wildly accurate words of knowledge, healing Kim’s neck, and then throwing in a free gift just to top it all off! I almost teared up at His sweet kindness.
When I paid the bill, I tipped her and told her again, “Jesus loves you so much! He’s real and He wants to be your God.” She repeatedly thanked me.
I got out to my car and thought, “Looks like I’ll be getting manicures more frequently from now on!” In a short time, God had flooded me with how He felt about Kim and the other precious ones who worked in that salon. He had changed the atmosphere in the place for the time I was there and His healing had triumphed over the enemy’s bondage. Those gods were no match for my God.
I can’t wait to see what He does when I go back.
Many have heard the evangelistic slogan, “America shall be saved!”
Now, I’ve got a slogan of my own.
Pretty Nails shall be saved!
COURTNEY GOODWIN 