I was scheduled to conduct a Wednesday evening church service in our local congregation. The schedule indicated I was to be assisted by our deacon Bill. Deacon Bill had a unique talent, being gifted to see things “outside the box” as one might say. Thus, he gave a thought provoking twist on whatever topic was being presented.
On this particular Wednesday evening service, everything progressed as usual. We sang together an opening hymn. As officiate I prayed an opening prayer. I read the text word from the Bible that was also read in all our churches across the globe for that midweek sermon. The choir sang a hymn as the congregants prepared for the sermon. Following the choir hymn I proceeded with my delivery of the sermon.
The sermon developed along the lines outlined in the minister’s guide that served to unify the spiritual message throughout the international church. When the main points of the sermon were covered, I called on our deacon to assist. I always anticipated the interesting and inspiring facets of the spirit of the service that Deacon Bill would present.
In preparation for the deacon’s serving the choir sang another hymn.
Deacon Bill began to serve and true to form touched my soul in a way that caused me to recall an experience I had not thought about for probably 30 years or more. I sat listening intently to the deacon’s serving. The impact of my past experience conjured up in my mind by the deacon’s words was profound. However, my intellect told me that it was irrelevant to the spirit of the sermon. I subsequently decided not to mention it when the deacon completed his serving.
The deacon concluded and I returned to the altar.
I stood there absolutely empty, in fact I was speechless. For me, that is a very rare occurrence. I stood silent for what seemed to be a long time when I began to tell the story of my experience inspired by the deacon’s words. The story flowed effortlessly from my lips to a congregation intently listening to every word.
When the story ended I concluded the service.
After the closing hymn I stepped down from the altar. Immediately one of our members ran up to me. She grabbed my hands in hers and thanked me profusely for telling the story at the end of the service.
Before I could say a word in response, she said, “That story was an answer to a prayer I have prayed for the last six months. Thank you!”
I said, “Please wait because we need to talk. Thanks must be to God, not me. I must share with you what extraordinary lengths God went to in order for you to realize this message from heaven.”
I greeted the other members and then returned to our sister.
I explained, “God prepared my soul for this divine service, giving me the necessary thoughts and feelings to present the spirit of the sermon. These words opened thoughts in the heart of our deacon. When he served, the words opened an experience in my life I had not thought of for thirty years or more! However, as impressive as the experience was to me, in my mind I dismissed it as being irrelevant to the sermon’s message. I decided in my mind not to tell it. But when I returned to the altar, God emptied my heart and mind and I was compelled to relate the story which ultimately contained the answer to your six-month long prayer vigil!”
Together we gratefully rejoiced in the love of God that this experience revealed in such an impressive way. It is difficult to find appropriate words to describe the deep feeling such experiences create in our hearts and minds. The Father’s relentless pursuit of blessing us in spite of our own weaknesses is evidence of His eternal love.
Turning Points
We exercise our faith and trust in God by bringing to Him through prayer the things of life that tell us we need His help. Prayers though are not always answered in the timeliness we desire. We usually want some instant response from heaven. Coupled with this are our expectations as to what means the answer comes to us. This turning point revealed that the perfect answer in the perfect way comes at the least expected time and from the most surprising source. Further, we may not be aware when God uses us to be the harbinger of His answer to someone’s prayer.
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