WATCH: Ben Carson Uses a Reporter’s Mistake About His Mother’s Death to Glorify God
When a journalist on an international news broadcast made an embarrassing mistake about a very personal matter, Dr. Ben Carson took the opportunity to glorify God before an international audience of millions. The neurosurgeon and 2016 presidential candidate discussed the latest undercover Planned Parenthood videos on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper yesterday. Before they turned to the main focus of the interview, Tapper offered his condolences on the death of Carson’s mother. “This is the first time I’ve seen you since you lost your mother, and I just wanted to send our deepest condolences on your lost,” Tapper began. “I know she meant a great deal to you.” The only problem is, Sonya Carson is still very much alive. The doctor handled the mistake with an unusually gentle bedside manner. “I appreciate that. But she actually sprang back,” he said, smiling without a hint of irritation. Tapper was less composed. But Carson proceeded to tell CNN’s largely secular, liberal-leaning audience that God’s miracle-working power had brought his mother back from the verge of death. In May, he suspended his campaign events for what he thought would be a farewell to his mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s. Then God intervened. (Story continues following video.) “It looked like she was on her death bed. We all went down to say our final goodbyes,” Carson said. “Everybody started praying, and she sprang back.” An embarrassed Tapper apologized, saying he “didn’t get the memo,” and that this was “the best news I’ve heard all day.” “It is wonderful,” Dr. Carson replied. His good natured demeanor defused what could have been a difficult situation. Dr. Carson’s graceful handling of the situation shows Carson is a class act. (Jake Tapper later e-mailed the website Mediaite to say, “I’ve never been happier to be wrong!” That, and some of his other journalistic choices, hint that maybe Tapper is a class act, too.) But more importantly, it shows a candidate who — given the opportunity — will uplift the Name of God. The story of his mother’s renewal is another concrete example of God’s many, many promises of healing in the Bible.
- God promises to restore those on their sickbeds to health, especially if they follow His commandments (Psalm 41:3).
- “To you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings” (Malachi 4:2).
- “Confess your sins to one another and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16).
Sonya Carson’s unexpected recovery is but the latest in thousands of years of God’s mercy and blessings, even in this earthly life. And “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (I Cor. 2:9 and Isa. 64:4).
