Hey, Everybody! I was thinking about something early this morning that turned my thoughts toward you. I’d just been going over my memory verses and started reflecting on the whole journey of faith. The ups and downs, the twists and turns. The pain and then sometimes the dullness that scared me twice as much as the pain. Then something would happen and revival would come and back in the saddle I’d go again. His Word would jump back off the page at me and I’d feel fully alive and wonder why I’d doubted. I rewound even further back to the years that I hoped so much that this God I’d been told about was real. I needed Him so badly. I found my heart believing and I deliberately placed my faith in Him. Then I thought about a specific season through which I went from hoping He was real to knowing He was real. Don’t get me wrong. I am still challenged to faith in many other matters and always will be, because “faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen” and “without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:1,6) But I seldom sit around and wonder if God exists and still speaks and still acts. Like you, I still see as in a mirror darkly and I wonder why some things happen the way they do and how it will all work out and what some things in Scripture really mean. But “I know the One I have believed in.” (2 Timothy 1:12)
We have so many new believers and even a sizable population of seekers in this community. Praise God, we do! We need to question our effectiveness the moment we don’t. So many of them would probably like to ask us how we “know” this God is real. So I ask those of you today to whom this applies to share a season in which you became convinced to the marrow of your bones that this is FOR REAL.
Think it through and be deliberate in your testimony. Please limit your story to one meaty paragraph so that we can read as many as possible. I can hardly wait. Let’s testify, girlfriends.
I have a special needs child that is 29 years old. She was not suppose to have lived. I was blessed that God gave her to me so I could be her mother and her my daughter. It has been hard with surgery on top of surgery and seizure where she stops breathing and you to do CPR and get to the ER. Not one time has God not been there for me and my family. He has carried me so many times. When you feel Him carry you, there is no greater feeling. He is there through it all sometimes minute per minute. Yes you wonder why Lord? Why won’t you heal her? God makes no mistakes she is what He wants her to be. I cannot tell you how many lives she has touched for God.She loves God so unconditionally. This journey alone makes me know without a question He is our God.
I too am a mother of a special needs daughter…she will be 15 in just over a month. It sounds like we have had a similar road…multiple surgeries, seizures that lead to respiratory arrest, etc…We too see the hand of God in our daughter’s life (like you), and I just want to say “Well done” for walking this road. I know that the Lord is pleased with you!!
I am the mother of a 20 year old special needs child. We have been down some of the same roads. Surgery, seizures, countless hours at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Though the road is very trying at times, there is no doubt he is God’s beautiful handiwork, also touching lives and spreading the love of God even if he doesn’t know it.
The first time I knew God was Real was when I went away to college. I was attuned to God, grew up in church. Loved my youth group; but I still fell to peer pressure and did things I shouldn’t have. BUT the summer b/f I went to college I said a prayer to the LORD, I will live for you, I choose you….I knew I didn’t have an 11pm curfew and parents waiting up for me to keep me out of trouble and I had put myself in so many bad situations that it really is a miracle I didn’t lose my virginity or be taken advantage of by a boy. I was alway very boy crazy, so I told the Lord; “I don’t want to date another guy til I meet the guy I’m going to marry.”
Long story short….I met my husband within a week of being @ school. Got involved in Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship….so many things happened that they never could have been coincidences…they were GOD.
BTW, I told my crazy prayer to my roommate (my best friend from high school, who wasn’t a Christian) and I can still her today saying…I want what you have Angela, the peace, joy, confidence. At this point, GOD became my GOD, not just the God my parents had taught me about.
i had an experience similar to this at college when God became MY God and not just my parents’ God, too! Thanks for reminding me of that!
to moongirl – I haven’t been on this blog since the first of this year, but I’m struggling right now with God. We lost our baby boy just a little over 2 years ago. For some reason, your pic and screen name caught my attention and I clicked on it. Your download today was of airplanes and our baby’s name was Maverick. We had airplane things for him and I think of him everytime I see one. God is real and he knew I needed proof right now. Thank you for your beautiful illustration. I downloaded it tonight.
There are so many things I could speak on here how I know that Abba is real. From tender moments where I seek His face asking Father what do you have for me here in Your word? and He speaks His special somethings in my ear as I turn the pages and it’s exactly where I am in life, just what I need from my Abba. Or those really holy times that I have misplaced my keys or whatever I am looking for and I call out to Him to ask, He always opens my eyes or puts it before me as soon as Jesus name is uttered. I can’t help but give him thanks and praise over the simplest of things He cares for me.
One of most favorite things He blessed me with…one night I went was getting ready for bed. I slung one of my sling shot prayers…Lord I need a new night gown…and realized Lord, I am all the time telling you what I need I don’t give you praise and adoration like I should. SO I fell asleep give Him praise and adoration exalting Him and calling Him by His precious names…Then in this most amazing dream…I was being chased from the parking lot of Walmart into Walmart by something evil. I ran through the store entrance towards the garden center…in passing these trees(which I love on.. sale for one penny…I thought I gotta get me one of those..bear with me, Abba knows His daughters loves all so well) then ran back out the garden gate to the parking area but still on the doorstep of the garden gate….the evil stopped chasing me. There were these angels coming down from heaven two by two from the right to the left descending to the parking lot. Two of the angels approached me. I knew them. I could remember the ones name was Agnes but when I woke I couldn’t remember the other ones name… Then in the dream…we all turned around and behold the King of Kings was desending from the place from Heaven…the angels had came. He did not descend to the earth but was high in glory but we all worhshipped and adored Him. Oh the moment seems like now but it’s been years since I’ve had this dream. When I woke I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t remember both angels names…it bothered me. So I inquired of the Lord..why did I remember Agnes name…so the Lord knowing His daughter all so well..knows I love name books with the meanings..went to this one book that I had that had scripture with it…I looked up Agnes and the scripture “You enter His gates with thanksgiving and courts with praise” Psalm 100:4 was under that name…That was my Abba telling me He heard me. Oh how I adore Him. Oh how I love Him. At the memory it so makes me long to see His face…when that glorious day comes.
My most recent moment is now! After several years on the mission field, I quit. Everything. Quit God, would’ve gladly quit my marriage, quit relationships that would stretch me, quit. Five years went by, then about a year ago I began to be open to letting God lead me wherever He wanted. Open to even… overseas? Maybe?? I got a passport last summer (mine found the trash after 4 yrs in a very very Muslim area, I hit the wall), then shoved it in a drawer, afraid again. Around Christmas a strong desire for the nations began to return, like a flood. Then a strong desire to get myself ready, although I have made colossal mistakes and even intentional decisions to take me out of ministry. But nothing mattered except getting ready. Two weeks ago, I told God, anything, anytime. I wanted to be free, but I was sure I had taken my little rebellious season too far. But I would wait until I got called back in the game, injured or not. Last Tuesday, a head pastor of a large and growing church not far from me called and presented a pitch for me to come and be a p/t director of missions. For me, this was as clear as God calling and saying, “Are you ready to play?! Get warmed up!” I couldn’t believe He still wants me! I spend the day in worship and praise, overwhelmed!! Then Saturday I told God that although I’ll do anything I don’t have funds set aside to do the trip I feel I should this year. So I asked God Saturday night if He wanted me to really go, that someone should contact me and offer me money for ministry, without me saying anything. Monday I got that message from an old friend four states away. I have to laugh. I have to cry. What a God we serve! He has been waiting all these years and His arms are open! I love you Jesus, may Your Name be Glorified in Every Nation!! He wants me!!
WOW!
As I have been studying in Jonah this week He is the God of second chances.
I am so glad you are back in the game! From one sister who has walked in your shoes-be prepared to be blown away. You will be astounded at all the work the Lord has done in your life and heart these past five years. Most likely it was silent and foundational. As you begin to walk forward be prepared to be astounded by the Father.
Thanks, Leslie. That was very encouraging. I am looking forward to the future, unafraid!
The season in my life when I felt God’s “realness” in ways I never had before was the five year span in my 30’s that included my twin boy pregnancy(with a 4 and 7 year boys already,) their 7 weeks premature birth and month long hospital stay, and first 3 years especially after they were born. We had such little family support which devastated my emotional health while just trying to survive overwhelming parenting demands that were so taxing on my physical well being. Relationships with some close relatives were broken and God walked with me through “my hell” and I survived thirsting for His righteousness like a sponge laying in the scorching sun day after day. I cannot thank Him enough now for the trial and hardship He helped me endure. It was worth it all! I mean that with every fiber of my being…He IS my all, He was all I ever needed and really came to believe that 100% throughout those years.
On September 29, 2010, my dear mother died of pancreatic cancer. Unknown to me until the last few weeks of her life, she had stopped paying on her life insurance and had her finances in a mess. She owed several credit cards, had a car loan, and owed on her home. When she died, my husband and I paid the funeral costs and took over paying her bills until we could sell the house. We knew this was going to be difficult in this economy. My husband and I painted the rooms, cleaned everything, and put in new carpet. Then, I hired mom’s next door neighbor who loved her as much as I did to sell the house. He is a part-time Realtor and drives trucks full time. We had the house appraised but decided to price it $20,000 above the appraisal price to allow plenty of room to come down. We put it up for sale in January of 2011. The very first people who looked at it not only bought it for $10,000 more than the appraisal price, but they also paid cash AND bought the furniture that no one else in the family wanted or had room for. God is real and HE still performs miracles. The television networks have been reporting the home sales in February were the lowest in the last 9 years, yet, mom’s house sold.
My Father works in mysterious ways, but one thing is for certain…He had to be very deliberate in His pursuit of me, and pursue He did. I am 29 years old and have lived more life in those 29 years than I care to admit to. It wasn’t that I didn’t, “know better…” I was raised in a wonderful Christian home with no steps or halves or anything like that. I went to private Christian school, was involved in AWANA and Young Life, and went to church on Sundays and Wednesday nights. I believed there was a God, I just didn’t know Him. I didn’t feel Him. Well, God changed all that over the course of 15 years. It started with the birth of my oldest son at 17 years old and ended with the complete and utter disassembling of my life at 28. In between it all were 2 failed marriages, a heap load of abuse, and my youngest son’s diagnoses of Autism. In the fall of 2009, God finally took out all of the props in my life and let me finally see who He really is-my life support. The only one that can truly love me, fill me, and lead me the way I need. I didn’t even know how much He could fill me up and calm my soul with complete and unexplainable peace in the midst of a massive storm in my life. I would literally cry out to Him to please make it stop, and He didn’t, He made me see it all the way through, but in those moments, He would fill me with peace-a total, soul calming peace. I remember vividly the moment I knew I was forever different…I was walking outside of our home. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday (I love how our word for Sunday is like Sun-day/Son-day…He IS totally my sunshine, so it works for me :)). I felt God say to me, “I am proud of you.” I burst into tears and sobbed because my own father didn’t say that much to me, especially in light of all of my poor choices. It had me on my knees and thanking God that He loved me so much that He knew I needed that. Not too long after that, I walked in to my Autistic son’s room and he was laying face down on his floor. I asked him what he was doing, and he said, “Mommy, I’m pwaying, just wike you do.” It was a moment that brought me to tears for days because I knew my Father was saying, you’re doing a good job. I finally felt like I was receiving the words I so desperately needed from my Heavenly Father. It was pretty epic.
Kelly
Cumming, GA
Psalm 16:1-2
Your story touches me, as it is very similiar to my own…unique in it’s own way, but a lot of similiarities. 🙂 Such joy for you…
Your story brought me to tears. Thank you so much for sharing it.
God loves you so much!!!!!! 🙂
He is so good to us!
I didn’t come to know God until three years ago. Rather I believed every new age philosophy that promised to help me that week. I have battled most every addicition imaginable, but the one that got me and nearly destroyed me was bulimia. It was the addiction I could not ‘kick’ by myself. For me, the results of this terrible illness is shame, guilt, & isolation. Not to mention the physical problems it causes. I would have given anything to have bulimia disappear, it gripped me harder. As I was walking by my house one day, I spotted a piece of paper on the ground that I felt compelled to pick up. In red marker, it said “I love you, Dad”. I immediately began to cry, big sobbing cries. Never having been loved by my own father, I though it was somewhat pathetic that a note obviously meant for someoneo else touched me so much. But I knew it was meant for me and I knew it was from a God that I did not yet know. Although, I was not a Christian, I was led to a Christian counselor who helped me. God answered my prayer and delivered me from bulimia. Although, I was not delivered from the health effects immediately, they are slowly healing. God is walking me through the process of healing my wounds one at a time. Now, that note is a book marker in my first bible and my most precious posession — a reminder that I have a Father who loves me.
WoW! Wow! I love your story, it is such a sweet example of how personal God is with each one of us and it also reminds me that His love never fails.
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this. My dad died last summer after many years of illness. I would give anything to find a note like the one you found. My dad wasn’t much for showing affection or writing notes.
WOW! One paragraph – I’ll TRY 🙂 For me, it happened in 2006. Our ladies group at the church I was attending then was going through Ruth Graham Lotz’s Bible Study, “The Vision of His Glory – Finding Hope in the Revelation of Jesus Christ”. After completing my homework one night at home, I felt I needed to just pray and talk with Jesus. I went and laid down on my bed and began to just talk with Him. It wasn’t long before I was crying (sobbing, actually) because I actually felt like I was a little girl, sitting in her Daddy’s lap and He was hugging me and telling me over and over that He loved me! I got ‘saved’ when I was about 13 but I’d never had a TRUE RELATIONSHIP with Him – didn’t know anything about that! But that night, for the very first time, I realized that He really loved ME! And that it was okay for ME to love ME! Because I can’t really love others until I love myself! There was a whole lot more to that story, but that is the main thing! I know from that, that He IS real because ever since then I have not been the same. He just keeps working on me – calling me out of my comfort zone and holding my hand as I take each baby step forward and even still holding my hand as I take a step or two backward. He STILL loves me just the same!
Thank you for this opportunity to call this back to remembrance and remember it all over again!
1) I see a child in need and undone
2) I see a Father who can hardly wait to rescue, restore and redeem.
I am 53 years old now, and was raised to know Jesus since I was born. However, I have often struggled with doubts and questions, more over my salvation, than over whether or not God exists. I have longed to have the questions and self doubts just go away. God has taught me many things at different times, but this last year has been an interesting ride! Several things have led to their fading in the last year. I went on a Walk to Emmaus last summer. During the weeks before it, I spent a great deal of time praying for my time there. And, even before the Walk, my Lord began to speak to me. One day I was complaining about my lack of sensing His presence, and I turned on the TV and DVR to see one of Beth’s episodes on Wednesday mornings, and the very first words out of her mouth were “God’s presence is a fact.” I almost fell over. It was like God, Himself, spoke to me. It was so directly in reply to my usual doubts and questions. The Walk to Emmaus itself gave me some focused time with the Lord. The times in the chapel, and the times of prayer were very meaningful. Then this January, I took on Beth’s challenge of memorizing verses. I have a fear of failure, and have not seriously tried to memorize verses in years, because after all, I probably won’t be able to! But, I have been amazed at how easily I have been learning them. I know the Lord has had a big hand in that. Anyway, there were many other times in the last few months, where the Lord has just spoken, and reassured me, and taught me, so that I finally can say with conviction that God is who He says He is, God can do what He says He can do, and that I am who God says I am! I can do all things through Christ, and God’s Word is most definitely alive and active in me! Thank you, Lord!
After moving to a new city and then receiving word that my daughter had suffered a stroke in-utero, I went to a bible study group for the first time. In that group there was a pediatric occupational therapist who quickly got me connected to all the medical people we would need to help with my daughter. I had been a christian for a long time, but had not fully put him as the lord of my life and had tried to handle things on my on. He showed me that I need him and he will take care of me and provide all I need. And all my daughter needs. I can look back now and see all the God orchestrated, but it was the first time I saw it all being played out and him bringing me to that new city and providing me with someone who would direct us where to go for help. He is still in control and continues to provide for my daughter at every corner she turns. My job now is to make her aware of how his hand is on her life!
As a girl without a day-to-day dad (my parents divorced when I was just 4 yrs. old), I am ‘living proof’ that God himself becomes ‘daddy’ to the fatherless. And he gave me a sensitive heart to know that ‘for real’ at a very tender age. My mom shared with me a very ‘practical’ faith – as a stressed single mom, she modeled to us a dependence on God for the simplest of things …like asking God to supply her with ‘close’ parking places in crowded shopping centers! Most months she didn’t earn enough money to make ends meet … she would pray and God would send food and clothes home from co-workers, and people would ‘need’her to do alterations or make draperies for them, supplying ‘extra’ money for a fun outing. Seeing God meet our needs in practical ways showed me He was very real. In college God met MY financial needs in a very personal way, and it was then I knew He would be there for me as He was for my mom. I had been asked to share my testimony for a group of women … during finals week … I was struggling to stay on top of things, then on the way to the meeting, I stopped at the post office and received more stress – I had lost my grant for my final school year because my mom’s income had increased! What I didn’t know was the reason I had been asked to share my testimony was because the woman’s group had selected me to receive a scholarship for the following school year … the amount? You guessed it … the amount of my grant that I had just lost! God had already supplied my need even before I knew I had one…a very loving God showed me He was ‘for real’ that day and it set our relationship on a whole new path 🙂
God is good!!!!
In 1991 I was pregnant with my 3rd child. At 26 weeks I went in for a regular check up and discovered my blood presure was extremely high. The next week is somewhat a blur as my condition spiraled down hill. They took my tiny 905 gram baby near the end of that week. She spent 3months in the RNICU with me at her side as much as possible. I saw many other tiny babies in the unit and since it was a teaching hospital and I was not asked to leave when the doctors and students came through I knew the stories of many of those precious babies as I listened to the doctors discuss what was going on with each one. I sat and heard thedoctors tell many parents that their child would probably not make it through the night. Many times I would arrive at the unit to find one little bed vacant. Through this whole 3mo. period a peace like can only come from God was my constant companion. It never even crossed my mind that my baby would not live and come home with me. I just had that assurance that My Father was in control of everything. She is now about to celebrate her 20th birthday, we have some problems, cerebral palsy and learning disabilities but she has truly been a blessing to our family and to many others also. My God is real and He cares.
Well, I guess that time would be now… I’ve been living (surviving) a season of complete devastation, heartache and confusion. I’m 25, been married 5 years, was trying to conceive, miscarried, couldn’t get pregnant, and was told in November that my husband, a pastor’s son who I met at church, was having an affair with a co-worker which resulted in her pregnancy. My husband would like split custody of this baby when it’s born and for us to raise it together half-time. I don’t know what the future holds, and I certainly have some tough choices which lie ahead…But, at a time like this, if I didn’t have the knowledge and understanding that my God is real, loves me, and cares about every intimate detail of my situation, I would not make it one more step. My God has been more present, active and real to me now more than ever. He is real, He has sustained me, and I have truly realized He is all I need. When all of your hopes, dreams and plans go down the drain…there is God, waiting to pick you up and lead you in the way you should go.
What strength God is giving you along with a forgiving heart. I am believing right now that God has a definite plan for this situation and it is “good”. Your heart is an inspiration !
I’ll share two brief ones… 1) May 3, 2003-I had an encounter with God at a Pregnancy Resource Center Conference that ROCKED MY WORLD! The next morning as I stood in the bathroom putting on my mascara (that I cried off nearly a half hour later) I was heard to say… “It is like the scales have fallen off and I can see God everywhere.” This is after I received a very specific message about me being His bride. 2) August 23, 2005, 5:00 pm Nothing in my life could have prepared me or sustained me through the death of my oldest child but God. Those months and days leading up to and after his death have been more and more precious the more time passes. He brought me through my worst confessed fear better, stronger and more alive than I’ve ever been. I know my God is real and He is who He says He is and He will do, does and keeps doing what it is He says He’ll do-sometimes in spite of me. 🙂 Love you guys!
My oldest son was killed @ 17 yrs. old, on Jan. 19, 1985. I miss him every day, and I rejoice for him every day: he is in the Presence of God, listening to the angels sing. I’ll see him again.
Some 20 years before my son’s homegoing, you bid your son goodbye. My son was born three years after your son went home. Thank you for sharing what is stirring in your heart.
I do miss Justin, not everyday, but some days I miss him intensely and with tears. Most of the time for me these days – it is like he has moved far away from home and we don’t see each other very often. But, the comfort of knowing Jesus said “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” And my hand is at the end of my arm helps me to believe my son and my SAVIOR are close to me – always – and that we are just a veil away from something heavenly. I pray you continue to find your joy even in the midst of such sorrow – so many years later.
I hold onto Isaiah 60:20 every single day: “And the days of your mourning shall come to an end.” Mine have and I’m grateful to God for it. Bless you, and I hope to know you more in the days ahead.
Blessings, MB
I’m reading these stories knowing God is real, but I have been in a season of drought after the death of our baby just over 2 years ago. Reading your words that those days become more precious to you, reading that this was also your wost confessed fear (it was mine, too) and reading that you’re stronger and more alive are encouraging to me. I’m trying every day, but I’m just not there yet. Thanks for your encouragement.
Juli… Oh sweet girl. Keep holding fast to the Anchor of Your Soul, love. I cannot even imagine your pain over losing your precious baby. My experience is so different than yours, but our hearts ache for the same thing – to hold our precious children in our arms once more. My comfort comes in knowing my son is in the safe-keeping of his heavenly Father, and that I share the destiny he now lives. I am praying for you tonight, thank you for sharing your pain and your hope here with us. I’m grateful my experience has given you courage to continue to persevere through your grief. Please email me (linked at my blog) if there is anything I can do to help you along the way. Much love, and a hug across these cyberwaves to you tonight.
I was the sensitive little kid who would tuck Jesus into bed with me each night–scooting over so He would have room. Then I got older and daily life swept me away. I got calloused and self-sufficient. A Christian friend invited me to a bible study (I was in my forties at that point) and from that
time on my relationship with God began to grow as did my hunger to know Him more and better. Recently, I have had a major challenge in my work place with a co-worker who has been a cruel bully. Through this experience God has been there with me. I have been guided to bible studies that encourage and teach me about God’s love. I have learned to rely on Him and in turn, He has sent me human supporters and “love messages” from above to prove it. He has thwarted her attempts to do harm and has shown me a way
out from her persecution. Only God could pursue me like this, only God could send me
these encouragements just at the right time, only God could so effectively point to events in my past where He was there for me every time to prove His “track record”. I am His work in progress.Thankfully, he loves late bloomers too (I am in my 50’s now). Better late than never. Thank you Jesus.
He certainly works in mysterious ways. I heard this baptist church had the best child care program. It had a long wait list. If you were a member you had priority. So I joined the church and got baptized. I’d never been in a baptist church in my life and had no intentions of being one. I was born and raised catholic but was very disenchanted with it. But after a while, I felt a need to go to church for some reason. The first time I went to service and heard the choir sing, it was so powerful, tears streamed down my face and for the first time I felt something stir in my soul. Having been a dancer, I always felt the music deep inside me. He knew I would feel Him through the music. I’ve been in the choir for 8 years now. Not long after that, my family life became unbearable, I was depressed. My husband was a tyrant, he treated me and the kids badly. My kids, both with ADHD, were so difficult to deal with and I thought about killing myself or my husband every day. I finally told him I was leaving him. He couldn’t comprehend where this was coming from as he had no idea what he had become. Looking back at himself, he had a rude awakening. He never believed in God and mocked my Christianity. He almost had a nervous breakdown and actually prayed to God in desperation. He told me he felt a peace come over him. He changed 180 degrees literally overnight and has attended church every Sunday since. It is truly a miracle. Praise Him!
For a fellow believer, I could use words like ….because he lives in my heart and it would be nuff said but how do I tell nonbeliever? It is real based on what I know beyond a shadow of a doubt. Things true like he was born of a virgin, he was promised centuries ago, he was crucified for our sins. I know these things because they are from his word and I know what it says is true because he has proven it to be true in my life. It all makes perfect sence to me! I know what I know and if I could never convince another soul, I would still KNOW!
I felt my Father calling me for months. To describe it… maybe someone can relate, but it was like my “usual” sins were hurting a lot more, I was just torn up inside… something needed to change. So I chose to make a public commitment. I was baptized in January of 2010 at 25 years old. I (WE, actually) started to clean up my behavior. I began attending the women’s Bible study at my church on Wednesday nights. The first lesson we did was Beth’s Fruit of the Spirit study, and after listening to the DVD that night, I literally was in awe of what I had just heard. My jaw was hanging open. I wanted to tell everyone what happened, what I knew! For the first time I had a craving to read my Bible. I couldn’t stop thinking about God, or talking about Him, or talking TO Him. I read Joyce Meyer’s “Knowing God Intimately” and realized what had happened to me that night was called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And if that wasn’t enough, if you want to hear something really supernatural, our Bible study that was scheduled for the summer was changed the day it was supposed to begin. It was the “Loving Well” series, and that first week Beth referenced a scripture I had just read the night before out of Isaiah (randomly just turned to it). For each of the weeks we watched the DVDs, God would give me a scripture that Beth used in her lesson a day or two before each one. It was like He just KNEW I needed a secret from him : ) He is so amazing and so personal. I love Him!
It was on a day in 1983 when I was hurting deeply, struggling with self-condemnation, despair, and feeling totally unlovable. I hated who I was and did not see how I could possibly change–and I desperately wanted to change. I sank down on my knees in the living room carpet with my Bible clutched to my chest, and cried out to Jesus for help. As I leaned back and sobbed, my eyes closed tight, I began to feel as if I were being totally enveloped by love. As strange as it sounds, it was a familiar feeling to me, but one I had forgotten–hadn’t felt since I was a little girl being held in my mother’s arms. I knew it was God holding me, and I knew I was loved unconditionally and that changed me, deep-down. It wasn’t long after that that I was asked to take over a ladies’ class in my church’s Sunday School, and I got to testify that I knew God was real, that He truly loved us, and that we belong to Him.
I was a Missionary in the states. Then was devastated by the sudden unexpected death of my sister-n-law. I ‘divorced’ God. Don’t know any other word to use. I took another Missionary appointment to be closer to family and help with her 3 young children. I had never known anything other than ministry so “playing ministry” was easy for me to do. Except the depression became crippling. It was something I had always struggled with at the age of 9 I “cut” my wrist. Have a scar, but the cut was so minor no one thought anything of it. While serving as a Missionary I tried carbon monoxide poisoning and a bottle of pills. Saw a Christian therapist for 7 years. I could not function. I sat for hours on end I sat…I could not do anything I went from a neat freak to a total slob. Was fired from being a Missionary. Life went on and I ended up living with my best friend. She FORCED me to get help was fired for being so depressed I was trying to hurt myself. Moved to yet another job with another denomination and found a NON Christian therapist and as a result found a Jewish psychiatrist who did studies for pharmaceutical companies. He tried for 2 years to get me to leave my job then at a hospital in the psychiatric department! God does have a sense of humor. There was no other combination of medications he knew to try and told me I was as good as I was going to get without a new surgical trial that was in the works. 7 years 9 months and 28 days after moving to GA on my birth fathers birthday I had surgery to have a Vegus Nerve Stimulator placed in my upper chest with wires wrapped around my brain. This was it, if it didn’t work…God worked a miracle and I am here to give Him credit. I have reconciled and begged forgiveness. In less than 3 months my psychiatrist, psychologist and I could all see a difference. I NO longer wanted to kill myself every single day. On my birth dads birthday my FATHER demonstrated yet again that He cares for me and I might toss Him to the side, but He would not do likewise. Surgery was 9/27/2007 and I am now back in church, back in His word, and so far am keeping up with my Scripture memory verses. He is still working on me!
Two amazing things the Lord has taught me in 2011 that have shown me how real He is and where His heart is at. 1) After having read Melissa’s cry for help to pray for our Siesta, Joanna, who had a stroke and now having seen what consistent prayer and adoration for our sister has done and now myself dearly caring for a woman I’ve never met but feel like could be my sweet friend and neighbor – THIS IS GOD! 2) God raised up this same sense of Sisterhood in my own life this 1st Qtr with my ladies bible study. Last night we celebrated our last night of a 10 week Ray Vander Laan study called ‘With All Your Heart”. OH MY!!! Not only was the study phenomenal but God brought nearly 6 strangers together with one common Love and in celebrating last night at dinner showed me how POWERFUL having Sisters in Christ is. That’s what He made us for and I think nothing delights Him more than a bunch of sisters fellowshipping together not only in the beauty of a church or home, but also out and about speaking of His ways, His heart, His Character, His Love for us – right there out in public where probably nearly every person in our restaurant overheard. There is no doubt they knew we were “special”. The Joy was thick like a cloud and His fragrance smelled so sweet!
Thank you Lord! You are always present! I adore you! XXOO, Cindy
I know God is real because He changed my life. I use to be someone that went to church. It was an event. Now God is real and a part of my daily life. I talk to Him like I talk to my girlfriends it is sweet. He has healed me through scripture from chronic depression. We walked through it together reading His word, clinging to it and seeing it change my life. God’s Word is powerful and effective. If HE can change me (and He did) He can change anyone. I am free!
I hope I am not too late with this. I have known for a long time that the Lord is REAL. He has proven Himself over and over again. One time in particular was when my oldest now, 23, was about 15 months old she was running a really high fever that caused her to have a seizure. We rushed her to the ER and she was hospitalized in isolation for four days. The night before she was released from the hospital, she was extremely restless and fussy. Nothing I did calmed her down. I think she did this for about 5 hours. I think it was in total frustration I finally prayed, “Lord, put this child to sleep!” I heard very clearly, “Sing to her.” I began singing, “I love You Lord. And I lift my voice to worship you. Oh my soul rejoice.” By the time I got to that, He was there in that room with me. Him and who knows how many angels and I felt my daughter completely relax in my arms and she was OUT for the count. Tears ran down my face as I layed her down and continued to worship the Lord. To this day that is my daughter’s favorite chorus. She may not be walking with the Lord right now but I know that her heart melts when she hears that song. He is real. Even when I stumble along and am unsure of where I am in Him He is always there.
Dear Ladies thank you for your words full of sisterly love, compassion and understanding and for your prayers. I am still trying and still participating in Bible study. I will read Ruth as advice. I have read Esther and Judith already. The Bible study now is on The Book of Esther,with a DVD and comments and prayers by Beth Moore. I admire her love and dedication and the way she explan and interpret that story and bring it to every day lifes. She is something else. I still cannot read and even think of the pain Mary felt seeing her son crucified and all he went through. Why do we have to have a Religion with so much pain and suffering for us? I know there is suffering in the World, we all go through it one way or another, but I cannot stand the thought of God’s son suffering that much because of us. We humans did not ask to be here. What have we done so wrong? I know….. read Genesis…. Sisters forgive me. I am hoping agaisnt hope that God will find me and console me. Thanks again, I am trying believe me.
Everything I had always know about God in my head was transferred to my heart on April 4, 1984. My husband Phillip died very suddenly with no warning at all. God’s grace overwhelmed me and allowed me to trust Him in a way I had never known. It’s where He allowed my faith in Him to blossom and grow. That was the day that I had no option other than believing God was Who He said He was and HALLELUJAH… He did what He said He would do!
Our Lord has been real and present in my life ever since I was in grade school. My dad worked out of state and even when he was around my parents fought and argued. Jesus was always there when I was afraid I would “reach out” and “grab his hand” it gave me a great deal of comfort. I used to walk to church by myself since my parents didn’t attend. I remeber feeling lonely and uncomfortable sitting in the pew by myself, I wanted my parent’s sitting beside me-so I asked Him, this was one of many “childish” requests that I asked our Jesus to answer. Our faithful God answered that prayer, not then, but later. As an adult I had the privledge of attending Church many times with both of my parents and many Bible Studies with my mother. I know He is REAL I’ve watched Him work wonders in my life and the life of my family.
Growing up in church I heard many stories about how God SAVED people from horrible situations like addiction, broken homes, abusive relationships, loss of loved ones, suffering of all kinds and He turned their lives around. Although I accepted Christ at a young age I thought God was for people who were bad or had bad things happen to them and I could not relate to that. In my teens I thought maybe I had to go out and be wild and “live a little” so God could “save” me from something! (Sounds pretty stupid now but it made sense at the time). My Wild days did not last long and at 17 I realized that God loved me even if I didn’t think I was “bad enough”. Now of course I have learned that I am actually worse off than I ever imagined but God loves me more than I’ll ever know. God has blessed me with the gift of Faith and I have always “known” that God exist and that he loves me. I knew I could “lean” on him in all situations but what I did not grasp for many years was that God wants me to FULLY love him back. He does not NEED me to love him but just as I want my children to love me he desires for me to know him and love him. He does not want my “good works” to endear me to him but my “good works” are a response to his great gift of love to me. Many years have passed since my youth and I have experiences some of the sad situations I once heard about from others and I’m sure I will experience more but knowing I have a God who is GOOD sustains me through it all. “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is Good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” Psalm 107:1
I can trace God’s touch on my life as far back as I can remember, but I came to grasp Him as real & true for myself first when after being saved for 21 years, I finally understood the difference between giving him my heart & giving him my life. I had been ‘evangelized’ but never truly ‘discipled’, but the Lord pursued me Himself until I finally ‘got it’ sitting at the bottom of a pit. He lifted me out of that pit & continues lavishing my life with His mercy & love. He was with me later as I sat beside my 8 yr. old daughter’s beside begging Him for her life. She was in a coma & dying from injuries of an accident. He bathed my heart in peace & gave me His strength to release her to Him. He took her home & has continually showed me how to live on in victory ever since. I am full of joy & life despite years filled w/abuse & confusion and the tremendous agony of the death of my precious child. These are just some of the many ways that I KNOW HE IS REAL. Oh, praise Him, HE IS REAL, no doubt about it…I am living proof. 🙂
Brought up knowing about God and Bible stories. Knew Jesus was real when I was in a serious car accident, Nov. 1980, when He literally showed me His face, circled in light, just before impact… Ended up in ICU. Dr.s and staff were amazed at how well I did… Seeing is believing (though would i believe anyone who said they saw the face of Jesus???) Lived in wonder and amazement at God showing Himself to me. Sept. 81 I had a rare opportunity to see my beliver cousin who was going thru a tough time-asked her if she was still a Christian, she said yes, i said me too- and it was then that Holy Spirit actually came into me… He has never turned His Back on me and keeps filling me as i empty His love into the world.
I knew God was real when the doctors came in saying “She has cancer. It’s aggressive. She won’t live another 2 years”. They were talking about my 3 year old daughter. The instant the raw fear and pain hit me, so did an overwhelming peace and the audible voice of God telling me not to be afraid because He would use this for His glory…
I know my Jesus is real because I am still standing, facing another day. Without going into detail, and leaving all exaggeration out of it, I have been through more than a person can handle. In the darkest times, when things couldn’t really get worse, I have gone out looking for more trouble to throw in, just for good measure. Yet here I am, covered in his grace.
No mistake about it, this is it! I was 53 years old and had known and trusted God all my life. I had come to the alter of my church after stepping away from a 25 year friendship with a dear friend. I had held her hand through her husband’s betrayal for 5 years. She was angry and vengeful and so full of bitterness. After so many times of dropping everything to run to her side, I was exhausted and told Him I was just so tired. He whispered, ” It is not your burden to bear, but Mine. Step aside. She is coming to you and not to Me.” I responded that she is my sister, I can’t leave her. So I began having chest pain whenever I was with her. After three months, I knew I had to step aside. So I did, and immediately went into church to the alter and cried. ” I am leaving her in your most loving hands and am not coming back to wrestle you for her again. I’m not leaving here until I have peace.” so I gathered myself up and sat on the pew. I picked up the hymnal and it fell opened to Psalm 81:6,7 : He says, ” I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from carrying the load. In your distress you called and I rescued you.” I was shaking as I looked to the cross and said, ” You’re here! You’re really here!” Wow! I was shaking as I wrote the scripture on scrap paper. Then I told Him I would find a song to settle me and as He would have it, the hymnal went to “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”. Another Wow! moment! I quietly read the words, then I whispered them in song, then I sang them out loud. I hold onto His Presence that day and know full well that He is immediately present with each one of us. He is just that close every minute. We just have to open the eyes of our hearts and receive him. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! Praise Him all creatures here below; Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost! As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen!
This is a BEAUTIFUL story….thank you so much.
I had two children with ADHD in a time it was just beginning to be treated and many people did not believe in it or approve of our allowing them to be placed on medication (after extensive testing). Extended Christian family that I had relied on all my life did not understand and so I no longer really felt their support. Friends did not understand and one even voiced that maybe her son should not play with my son any more. This was my church family. God was our only source of support other than the truly wonderful doctor God sent our way. It was a good thing in our lives because we lived the truly REAL faithfulness of God during that time. God revealed Himself much earlier in my life in alot of ways but never had so many props been knocked out from under me.
I’m totally blown away. The testimonies are so amazing. I want to print off this whole blog entry and make a book for myself…hmm, maybe I will.
I have always hated that I have been raised in the church, in my early 30’s now…and still question this. Over the last few months the Lord is answering in this area. This blog alone is proof to this pitiful, what feels like a million old believer, who dares to unbelieve b/c of feelings. I fight through, b/c I refuse to raise children who God in His mercy gave to me…and I refuse to raise them under the “christian” unbrella only for them to leave the nest and say “what a lie, what a joke.”
After going through a terrible season with some rebellious children and a daughter getting married, I felt worthless. I had spent my entire adult life praying for my kids, taking them to church, sending them to Christian schools and they weren’t any more interested in God than the man in the moon. Being 48, the Dr. suggested anti-depressants for menopause symptoms. Usually a very strong-minded woman, my mind was just tired. My heart was worn out. My tear ducts were constantly working. I went to a Ladies Conference knowing I was to hear a certain woman speak. She spoke directly to my heart and situation. A lady behind me who did not know me or my situation said the Lord told her to tell me that the “season of great sadness” is over. The ONLY way these people would have known what I needed to hear was if my Father whispered it in their ear. He heard my cries, he saw my heart, he was with me all along. He continues to be with me. I could live the rest of my life on the Words that were spoken to me.
Not coming from a Christian home, even as a young person, I was searching – looking for love in all the wrong places (as the old song goes), looking for something to fill the emptiness in my life. Then someone introduced me to Jesus. I became radically saved at 15 – 38 years ago. I have served Him ever since. No question, though, there are low times, where sometimes you doubt, sometimes you wonder, “is this really for real?” But then, I hear testimonies like these written here or at church or read something. I think like this: if God is moving in 3rd world countries, if He appears in dreams to people who have never met Him, if lives are changed all over the world, if He reveals himself to others and intervenes in ways that we cannot fathom – HE MUST BE REAL! And if He can do it for them, HE can do it for me! And YOU! Praise the Lord God on High, who chose to dwell among us, and wants to dwell IN us, and have a relationship with us!
God the maker of heaven and earth and every living creature, my Father, Savior, Friend has made Himself real to me in many circumstances of my life. But, the most profound time His presence was most real and confirmed that my faith was placed in an alive and active God was when one of my precious children needed a heart transplant. As I lovingly attended to my daughter in the hospital making decisions and consulting with her doctors I felt complete peace, wisdom and strength. My strength did not come from me, but from God’s miraculous hand of mercy and from the power of intercessory prayer. Even when I was without words to pray God knew my heart and gave me what I needed to complete each day. The power of intercessory prayer from family, friends and many prayer warriors carried my daughter through successful surgery and a remarkable recovery. She is now living proof of God’s many blessings and answered prayer. I choose to continue to walk in faith and know in my marrow that God is the source of love and power in my life. I have seen Him bring life to my precious daughter twice, once at her birth and once again through her heart transplant. I have felt the warm touch of His love and comfort from the top of my head to the tip of my toes. When I could not God could. This miracle would not have been possible without the gift of life from a generous family. Our greatest joy came at the time of their greatest grief. Their precious, fourteen year old daughter died tragically and through their grief they made the decision to donate her organs. I are thankful everyday for their gift and pray for them every time I think of them. I saw God’s hand at work each step of the way of my life’s most terrible time. But, through my weakness I have grown measures in faith. I know that in every time of trouble God will never fail, because He provided for me, even when I did not know or was physically unable to put words into prayer. Praise God!
Observations:
1. Each woman, no matter the road, no matter the journey – had to choose. She/we each of have to choose to believe that He is who He says He is.
2. God was always there!! He didn’t go anywhere – He didn’t leave – He didn’t abandon – He was always at work, perfecting the things that concern us — every “hind-sight” testimony revealed a Faithful God who was working on their/our behalf.
I was 37 years old going through a sudden season of betrayal, abandonment, self doubt, heartache and complete desperation. Circumstances happened that made my heart feel like it had been shattered in a million pieces; I fell into depression and felt there was no hope in ever having my heart whole and restored again let alone a normal life.
#1) “FOR REAL” happened when I had NEVER opened a Bible to read it up to this point; I was raised Catholic and owned a Bible, but didn’t read it. Out of the blue, I get a random phone call from another neighbor down the street(who I really didn’t know)inviting me to a small in-home Bible study (she had no clue what I was going through). I went to the study and from the third meeting God began revealing Himself. The Bible study, the leader, the Word that became alive and active in my life, were all the beginnings of KNOWING He was “FOR REAL”…
#2) “FOR REAL” happened when I believed the Lord was asking me to FORGIVE my offender (from this particular season). As He showed me Scriptures on forgiveness I worked up the courage to obey His request. I wrote my offender a two page letter that I asked God to partner with me on (took two weeks to write, and about 11 rough drafts). As a result of obeying to forgive, the Lord has set me free~ I KNEW He was and IS “FOR REAL”.
– the REAL DEAL my JESUS IS! PRAISE HIM!!!
I had a very tough time getting pregnant with my beautiful son, Nolan. We didn’t want to wait long before we tried again, praying and hoping we could give him a sibling. We had two miscarriages over a year. We were skeptical when I became pregnant again, but excited to welcome a second baby on November 12, days before my son’s birthday. And then I learned, through a long series of events, that it was ectopic. I lost my baby and my tube and so many dreams in one day. Months passed and we saw a fertility specialist so we could try again. More failed cycles. One morning, a positive pregnancy test. And yet…I was so scared. I prayed to our Father that I could enjoy this, that I wouldn’t worry, that I could please please keep this baby. The doctors would not give me an ultrasound earlier than 6 weeks. It was a long wait. The day before the ultrasound I took a nap. I woke up in such pain I couldn’t walk. Just like my last ectopic. Same pain. I called a friend to take me to the hospital. I called my husband out of town and told him to book a flight, I would be doing another surgery for an ectopic. I cried. I kept thinking about how this surgery would mean I would miss my son’s 3rd birthday party. At the ER, I was eerily wheeled in a chair to the same room that I had my last ectopic. Then wheeled to the same ultrasound room. The tech put the wand on my belly. I held my breath and and gritted my teeth. There was the baby! She pointed out the heartbeat, beating away. She waved the wand on my belly and I gasped…”was that another one???” She laughed. “Yep, that’s a second baby. And it has a beautiful hearbeat, too.” Did I mention the date? November 12th. The due date of the baby that is in Heaven, with Jesus. God turned a painful day into something miraculous and our lives have been reeling from those two miraculous gifts every single day since. God is awesome and I knew at that moment, without a doubt that was HIS PLAN!!!!
(by the way, the pain I was experiencing were mature cysts from the fertility meds)!!
I love this so much!!! I have two women in my family who have struggled so much to have their children. One could not, but God sent her two of the sweetest babies you have ever seen…someone else just carried them for her! Praising Him right along with you!
On April 16, 2005 my husband of 16 years passed away suddenly in his sleep. But there was such a peace that can’t be explained. All I could think of were two conversations I had had earlier in the week. One about my sister(her husband needed a heart transplant)I told my mom if her husband died she wouldn’t have a church family to lean on or a shepherd in a pastor to lead her but my two boys and I did. Then the other was with my son he had an accident the day before and I told him what I had been studying. It was about Joseph when he said to his brothers be not grieved or angry… for God did this, and to know all things work together for good to them that love the Lord. God had prepared my heart, he knew what was coming even though I didn’t. But now I see very clearly HE IS REAL!
I was born into a drug addicted, alcoholic, abusive dysfunctional divorced family. Growing up I was molested, raped, beaten (all separate circumstances) and taken advantage of. As an adult I went through even more trials, I was beaten by a long-term boyfriend and then also went through some abuse early in my marriage, and yet through it all…I still understood that God existed. I mean, I grew up going to church on Sundays, which to me was “knowing” God. I gave my life to the Lord as a young teenager. I do remember countless times I would question the why’s and what if’s of everything I believed in.
I was a 23 year old wife and mother of 1 healthy daughter. We tried and tried to get pregnant, and then one day we found out we were expecting another child. How excited we were! After the first half of the pregnancy we started all the shopping and planning. We picked out her name and had her sister so excited for her arrival in just a few short months…and then, unexpectedly, I had to deliver our baby girl at 6 months gestation and lost her to premature birth conditions (she lived 4 hours after birth). From that very evening, I started to slip into the deepest and darkest despair I had ever EVER experienced in my entire life, even ALL the things I lived through as a child growing up. And then one day I was sitting in my car (with my first daughter who was then 4 years old, sleeping in the back seat) I started to weep and cry out to the Lord, telling Him I wasn’t deserving of THIS pain. Out of all the cards life had dealt me, I knew for sure , that this one pain shouldn’t have been mine to bare..out of all the mothers in this world that just throw their children away in dumpsters, that beat their children, that NEVER wanted or could love their children. Why me- why take mine away from me? I wanted her so badly! We tried for so long to get pregnant, and we finally did. We had so much love to offer her, yet HE took her from us. I cried and wept, like no other time in my life before. I bowed my head as if to give up. I was at a cross road…choose death or life. And quite frankly, I wanted so much to have the courage to choose death. I reached my hands toward heaven and went to the throne of prayer, and at His feet I sat to hear from Him. Quietly, tears streaming down my face, and then I started to beg, “Lord, I am believing with everything in me that You have the ability to take this pain from me. If for nothing else- for Your glory. Because I know in my heart of hearts, that You alone can heal this. So I am asking You to, once again, carry this cross for me.” And IMMEDIATELY I felt a literal weight lifted off of my shoulders. I started to thank Him and praise Him. I can’t explain it to anyone. He lifted off of me a deep pain and sorrow in which I know without Him, would’ve never been lifted. I know what happened in my car that day. My Lord lifted that yoke off of me and carried that pain for me. It was real. HE IS REAL. And to this day I serve Him and give Him all the glory for everything He has brought me through in my life, and especially for bringing me out of that fiery trial. I can honestly say that since that day, I have never again WEPT over her. Sure I get teary eyed, as I do writing this, but only because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that HIS plans are bigger than ours. His ways are perfect. He knew what He was doing the day He took our sweet Jada home to live in eternity with Him. And He knew that her short life was well lived. I know that my little sweet pea has heard the words we all long to hear. “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Because of her short life here on earth, my husband found salvation in our HEAVENLY FATHER! My husband is now a servant of our King. Had she not have come, lived and died, my husband may not have felt lead to kneel down before our Savior and seek the saving grace that only HE can give. GOD IS EVERYTHING to us. We now have 2 earthly living daughters and one heavenly ALIVE daughter who has seen the Master’s face!! Praise the Lord for His perfection! Praise the Lord, even when circumstances don’t make sense. Praise the LORD when we can’t see His will. Praise the Lord because HE IS!Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Prasie the Lord!
I was raised by wonderful Christian parents but we didn’t talk freely about things. I became gripped with fear over how “bad” I was and knew that God had every right to punish me and feared daily that He would. Through my teenage years I pursued God more out of fear then anything yet I believed Him and His word and I knew He answered prayer. I went to a Christian college after being in public school all my life, and almost turned my back on God because of the fake lives around me. When my parents suggested that I transfer to a different Christian college as a senior, I told them the only way would be if everything transferred so I could graduate on time AND I was in a dorm with other older students that transferred. I took my request to God and yes, everything transferred and 4 upperclassman from Moody transferred into my new college and lived next door. I knew God in a new way and it was only the beginning…
The momement I saw that God was real yes SAW that he was real is such a vivid memory that I still get goosebumps when I tell people about it. My heart is pounding and hands shaking as I type this for I have never written down my experince as much as it has affected me in the years it happened. I had the great blessing of being a firefighter/paramedic with the Houston Fire Department it was during that time that I had the most incredible God moment. My partner and I were dispatched to a person having trouble breathing when we arrived there was a 70 yr old lady struggling to breath. We learned from her family that they had just finished eating chinese food for the patients 70th birthday, the patient we were told had a history of congestive heart failure. I am sure that the high salt content of chinese food was not a good thing for her. As we place her in the back of the ambulance her husband and daughter told her they loved her and would see her at the hospital. Right after the doors were shut to the back of the ambulance she quit breathing and lost a pulse. The monitor showed a flat line which means no heart activty, we started CPR and put a breathing tube in to breath for her. We had called for extra help to drive us to the hospital and for another pair of helping hands in the back with us. We had placed an IV and were giving her multiple medications to try and start her heart. We were having no response, nothing seemed to be working no matter how hard we tried. 20 mins had gone by and I kept thinking of her daughter and how she said she loved her and that she would see her at the hospital. I had lost my mother suddenly a year before and that was the last thing I told her too. So as you can imagine I had lots of thoughts and emotions running through my head. I did the only thing I could do at the point which was lift her up to the Lord. I closed my eyes and PRAYED that he would heal her and bring her back to her family. As I opened my eyes the patient OPENED hers! The heart monitor showed a normal heart beat, not fast not slow just normal, which is a miracle in itself since we had given her multiple medications that would make her heart beat fast. All I said to my partner was “Lary” he said ” I saw what you did “. I asked her to squeeze his hands and she did I asked her to move her feet and she did. She looked up at me and I could tell that she was all there. I knew that I had just been blessed with witnessing a miracle and that God was indeed REAL and with us! After arriving at the hospital and giving report to the doctor and nurses I went out and spoke with the family. I told them that their wife/mother had died in the back of the ambulance and that
we worked hard for 20 mins with no response that usually after that long with no response that their is very little hope of that person coming back. I told them that I did not know if they were Christians but that I had lifted their wife/mother to God in prayer and asked for her healing and that God had aswered. I told them that the only reason for her being alive was because God willed it and that the praise and glory go to Him. The patient I was told went home 2 days later with no ill affects from her experience. At least 13 years have passed since then and while I no longer live or work in the fine City of Houston ( and boy do I miss the great state of Texas ) that “real” GOD moment has been with me every since. I have never doubted that he is “real” since then. Thank you sistas for allowing me to share my story. God is just so awsome!!!
Beth,
I posted my story way back on these threads somewhere, but I just have to tell you this is my favorite comment section EVER. I have laughed, praised and cried!
I love each of you, sisters and I can’t wait till we all get to heaven and we can just praise Him together…and maybe drink coffee and talk and talk! 🙂
Kristi
Denise in Albuquerque. When I was a new believer, I had my rent increased unexpectedly. I was impressed in my spirit to trust God and not withdraw the needed extra from my account. When I went to lunch I visited a Wal-Mart and a woman came up to me with a closed envelope. She said “the Lord told me to give this to you.” It was the exact amount I needed for the increased rent, the fare I needed for my pending doctor’s visit and the amount to tithe for the gift received. God provided for me in the smallest details, He will for you as you place your trust in Him, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Denise in Albuquerque “Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘ What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ “for all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek you first His Kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:31-33 NASB I forgot to include the guiding Word of Life.
Observation 1) The more specific we are when asking for what we need, the more specific and evident the answer.
Observation 2) He is always there…waiting.
When I was about 10, my sister put her hand down on the burner of the stove and burned herself very badly. We could see the coils of the burner burned into her flesh and smell the cooked skin and hear her screams. My mom rushed over and told us (me and my other sister) to grab onto the burned sister. We did and so did my mom and she prayed that God would heal her burn (I have no idea why she didn’t just go for ice or water or something. Now, looking back, it strikes me as an odd response. Her way of rushing to my sister’s aid was just to pray, but at the time it seemed normal.) As we prayed the burn faded. Before our eyes. One second it was there, the next it was gone. No pain, no redness, no more burned smell–just vanished. My sister stopped crying and we all kind of stood there in shock and awe for a few moments. I knew then that God was real, and that he listened and that he cared. (Perhaps that’s why my mom grabbed my sister and prayed after all!) This is the only absolute healing I’ve ever witnessed, but it was pretty cool. Later, when I was an adult, God did one more really cool thing to let me know He was there. I was reading a chapter in Isaiah and I wasn’t understanding it at all. It was kind of boring to me. So I said a throwaway prayer. God, if you want me to understand this, you’re going to have to explain it to me yourself. The very next night we went to see a speaker at our church who was teaching us about prayer. He started preaching from Isaiah and I got the most peculiar feeling when I realized that he was explaining in detail the exact same verse I’d just prayed about the night before. I knew it was just for me. I could only say thanks and marvel at God’s greatness!