This morning at church Pastor Bill Meiter spoke on knowing when you hear the voice of God. If you would like to hear the sermon, you may find it at http://azcc.org/mediaministry/video/83. While listening to Pastor Bill preach, I was reminded of an incident that followed the scripture exactly.
I Samuel 3:3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.
8 A third time the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
When Joe was diagnosed with cancer, I am sure we prayed. I am sure we prayed for healing. I am sure we prayed for wisdom. I am sure we prayed for guidance on what to do. Neither one of us can remember praying one time during his illness. I do know that neither of us was angry at God. Joe has never asked "why me" or raised a fist in anger at God at everything he went through. We just lived.
During the early part of Joe's 21 day stay in the hospital it was decided by his doctors that he needed to have a platelet transfusion - actually he had several but for the first one I was asked by the doctors and the nursing staff to spend the night to watch him. Since he had never received platelets no one was sure how he would react and they didn't have the man power to devote a nurse to watch him.
I prepared to settle in around 11 PM to watch him, so tired that I didn't know how I was going to being to stay awake all night just watching him sleep. I prayed at this moment "God, you are going to have to help me do this. I don't have the energy to do this by myself".
Within 15 minutes there was a light knock on the door. In walked a friend of ours, Anne Knight. She was holding a Grande cup of coffee mocha, a pillow and a blanket. I remember the words she said. "I was in bed going to sleep and God told me to get up, get these things and bring them to you here." Now, no one knew anything about the plans to pull an all nighter. I hadn't told anyone except Kaitlin and Julie.
There were many incidents that happened during the 6 months of chemo, radiation and hospitalization that stand out in my memory - just mine - Joe has none or very little memories of anything. This visit, this friend saying to God, Speak for your servant is listening, is probably one of the most visible actions of God during this time, other than his obvious healing of Joe.
To add to Pastor Bill's sermon - if you get a feeling to get up and do something kind for someone else - do it. You never know how your actions of obedience will touch someone else.
When Joe was diagnosed with cancer, I am sure we prayed. I am sure we prayed for healing. I am sure we prayed for wisdom. I am sure we prayed for guidance on what to do. Neither one of us can remember praying one time during his illness. I do know that neither of us was angry at God. Joe has never asked "why me" or raised a fist in anger at God at everything he went through. We just lived.
During the early part of Joe's 21 day stay in the hospital it was decided by his doctors that he needed to have a platelet transfusion - actually he had several but for the first one I was asked by the doctors and the nursing staff to spend the night to watch him. Since he had never received platelets no one was sure how he would react and they didn't have the man power to devote a nurse to watch him.
I prepared to settle in around 11 PM to watch him, so tired that I didn't know how I was going to being to stay awake all night just watching him sleep. I prayed at this moment "God, you are going to have to help me do this. I don't have the energy to do this by myself".
Within 15 minutes there was a light knock on the door. In walked a friend of ours, Anne Knight. She was holding a Grande cup of coffee mocha, a pillow and a blanket. I remember the words she said. "I was in bed going to sleep and God told me to get up, get these things and bring them to you here." Now, no one knew anything about the plans to pull an all nighter. I hadn't told anyone except Kaitlin and Julie.
There were many incidents that happened during the 6 months of chemo, radiation and hospitalization that stand out in my memory - just mine - Joe has none or very little memories of anything. This visit, this friend saying to God, Speak for your servant is listening, is probably one of the most visible actions of God during this time, other than his obvious healing of Joe.
To add to Pastor Bill's sermon - if you get a feeling to get up and do something kind for someone else - do it. You never know how your actions of obedience will touch someone else.
Comments
Post a Comment