Extraordinary Encounters of The Closest Kind ©
Lonnie Coggins
In April of 2009, my 92 year old mother slumped in her dining room chair and fell to the floor. In doing so, she broke her hip. I was called and went to the hospital. The hip ball was screwed together the next day and healed slowly.
In 1st Thessalonians 5:16-21 we read:
16Rejoice evermore. 17Pray without ceasing. 18In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 19Quench not the Spirit. 20Despise not prophesying. 21Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good.” (KJV)
Sometimes it is difficult for us to be thankful in all things. But, if we try, even in tragedy we can certainly find some good, maybe extraordinary good, and in that be thankful. The good that came from mother’s fall was the first day when I was leaving the hospital. A lady was just barely in front of me as we left the emergency room. Something, nudged me to speed up abreast to her side. Something told me that this is where God wanted me in this, His time. Being continuously in a thankful attitude in all our circumstances, we are prepared to help others according to our talents and gifts.
She was crying.
"What's the matter?"
To a total stranger, she opened up to me and told me of a family friend, a six year old boy whose best friend was her son's friend. This young man named Ethan was laying in the pediatric wing deathly sick, getting weaker and weaker, and the doctors did not have a clue to Ethan's illness. "He has rashes, sores, the illness saps his strength, and is getting progressively worse," she said. It was easy to see why she was distraught and in pain.
I did the customary kindness, "I am so sorry, what is the boy's first name?”
When she told me "Ethan", I responded, "I will pray for Ethan," and that started her opening up to me even more. As she talked about Ethan and how he was a close friend of the family, it was easy to feel the love she had for him. I was amazed she started giving me all the details she spoke, as she continued to cry.
It was at this point the conversation turned theological. She said, "Sometimes, it is hard to understand the will of God, I believe that some how this is God's will, but I just do not understand." That was an opening to continue the conversation.
"Do you have a church?" She responded, "Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte." Understanding a little of the basis of her beliefs made it easy to start talking about what I feel is the best guide of understanding the Will of God. In midst of war in England, 1943, Leslie Weatherhead gave five sermons to his church concerning The Will of God. In the midst of horrible war, he explained that he believed there were three fundamental concepts wrapped in the words "The Will of God".
Mr Weatherhead defines the three parts of this statement:
The Circumstantial Will of God
The Intentional Will of God
The Ultimate Will of God.
As the lady and I talked, I quickly explained the Intentional and Ultimate Will of God which is more easily understood; but, then focused on the Circumstantial Will of God. Not understanding the Circumstantial Will is what had her questioning God’s Will.
Mr. Weatherhead in his book, "The Will of God", explains that the Circumstantial Will of God often seems to conflict with the Intentional and Ultimate will. God does not want his children to be sick, it is not His intention or ultimate will for this and other bad things to happen; and by the logic of being the Good Parent, he does not directly and purposely cause bad things to happen to people. We may be tested by the devil, but are always loved by God.
Within the confines of the Circumstantial Will of God, Weatherhead explains that God set up the physical rules of the universe, and we are still trying to determine what those rules are. The rules are constant as God created the rules, but we as humans can take a long time to learn what they are.
Humanity tends to violate those rules as we go about our daily lives. We find ourselves driving to an event, we realize that we will be late, and what do many people do, speed up, breaking man's and God's laws. And when someone wraps their car around a pole, some will say, it must be God's Will. This does a disservice to God. It is God’s Intentional Will not to drive so fast we lose control of our car. However, it is God’s Circumstantial Will that if we drive too fast for conditions, we can lose our way and tragedy will occur.
While it is true that speeding and bad accidents will hurt and kill people; that is not what God intends for us in our life. The rules are in place. Without going into the physics of speed, momentum, and reactions to it, suffice it is to say, speed hurts and kills. We find ourselves in events we do not want to happen because of wanting to be on time, selfishness, wanting to make life easy, and wanting to take the cheap way out.
In Ethan's case, maybe the root of his sickness was the drywall in his house that came from China with all the toxins that were allowed in the product. The contractor building the house took the cheap way out. < put more possibilities here >. All of these problems may not be the problem with Ethan, but something like this is likely to be a contributory to his illness.
As we talked about these things of God’s will, she wanted to know if the book was available and where to buy it if possible. I told her that the book had been in continuous printing since 1943. Just go online to Amazon and you will find it.
As we talked, I could see the change coming over her. In her taking this model of God's Will into her thinking processes she could better understand and with that the flow of tears stopped and she begin to smile.
As Christians we are ministers, we must call upon the Holy Sprit to help us help other people when we see and feel the need. We must be bold like Peter. In the words I spoke with her I know it was not my words, but it was the Holy Spirit using me as as His instrument to minister to this lady. I claim no credit for helping her. I was prepared to help her because I pray continuously for God to make me an instrument of His will.
In the time after the crucifixion of Jesus, the disciples totally forgot their training. When Jesus came to them in the upper room, the first thing He did was to anoint them with the Holy Spirit, John 20:21-22. In one moment, they were as frightened "little boys" and in the next they totally understood His mission and ready to follow what Jesus had taught.
Within weeks, they were out preaching the Faith on the Temple grounds and getting into trouble with the Jews of Jerusalem. Not long after the coming of the Spirit, Peter was before the Temple rulers, the Sanhedrin. In Acts 4:8 we find powerful words: "And Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit..." tells the Sanhedrin, the very people who were responsible for Christ's death, in so may words, "You just do not get it, you idiots put the Son of God to death, you will pay for this sin ......" There is only one event that could cause the disciples change of attitude and the strength of Peter’s certainty; the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Because of God’s Grace, we have the Holy Spirit available to us we can better minister to people we find around us. Just like the lady I met, when the Truth is spoken the proper manner, it rings true. This is why we believe in a risen Jesus; "Because he lives, we can face tomorrow" and because He lives, we have the Holy Sprit to guide us and be with us. We must pray, pray and pray..... everyday for the continued presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In our American society, if something does not work, we throw it away. Our God is not a throw away god. God Works, His promises are being fulfilled, and the promises of Jesus and the Holy Spirit have never been disproven and continue to this day.
As this lady at the hospital and I ended our conversation, she was dry eyed and smiling. She told me as she started to shake my hand, hesitated, and then embraced me a "total stranger" saying, "You have made me smile and stop crying, and you have been a blessing to my life." It was then I knew, but failed to tell her, "No, you have been a greater blessing to me." I regret this omission. My hope is to one day be able to tell her of her blessing to me.
This moment in my life was truly a blessing to me. I had never done this before. It was only recently that I truly understood the "filling" of the Holy Sprit and how to keep it coming. Now, I can look back over my life and see the Holy Spirit at work through me. In fact, the great achievements of my life were preceded by prayer. As my pastor spoke in January, 2009, "To have the Holy Spirit in our lives we must pray, pray, and pray some more.... everyday." Reviewing my life, I recognized the Truth in her sermon. God has been nudging me for a long time.
Through the Holy Spirit and my prayers to be filled by the Holy Spirit as I have the need, the Holy Spirit through me was able to minister to this lady and help her through this storm in her life. Maybe this lady was not talking to a "total stranger", maybe she subconsciously felt the presence of the Holy Spirit through the words spoken by me but inspired by the Holy Spirit. This event clearly demonstrated to me the importance of lay ministry. Ministry is too important to be left to the professionals.
Pray, pray, and pray for the Holy Spirit to be in your life so that you too can be nudged and have that "Extraordinary Encounter of The Closest Kind".
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© 2009
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