We
got a call late one night. Chad, the 16 year old grandson of one of
our faithful single adult leaders, was in the hospital. He had
suffered a brain aneurism at home alone. Fortunately he was on the
phone with his girlfriend at the time and she knew something was
wrong. Many people arrived at the hospital quickly, including my wife
and I. Being a pastor I found the parents and they were being briefed
by the surgeon as they were looking at cat-scan results. About 1/3 of
the brain was just a huge ball of blood. When the mom became a bit
emotional, I was shocked as the doctor turned and said to her: "Just
settle down, I had a son die also."
Hundreds
of people were praying by this time and a strong boldness from the
Lord begin to lead my thoughts and actions.
As
they brought Chad out of the room on the way to surgery, I stopped
the doctors and nurses and said a quick prayer of faith. As the
doctor, myself, and the parents were walking towards surgery, the
doctor got my attention and said to me so the parents wouldn’t
hear: "Pastor, you need to prepare them. He will not be
coming out of surgery alive."
We,
the parents and I, went to the family waiting room where there were
a few others. After a few hours of surgery, and prayer, the Lord
spoke something to my heart that He wanted me to share with the
parents. It was scary. It was 1:00 in the morning.
In
taking the parents aside, I shared with the parents that the
Lord Jesus told me that they would be communicating with Chad before
the end of the day. Prayer continued.
Early
in the morning the doctor came to talk to the three of us. I could
tell he was upset, but didn’t know why. He said matter of factly
that surprisingly Chad had survived surgery. He said that if Chad
EVER woke up from surgery, he wouldn’t be anything but a
"vegetable."
We
continued to prayer. I went home to get some sleep. We got
encouraging reports through the day, and when I got to the hospital
the next evening, Chad’s parents told me they had just seen Chad.
His eyes were open. He had so many tubes coming out of him he
couldn’t even try to talk, but they could communicate with him
as he squeezed their hands.
It
was so good to see his eyes open when I walked into the ICU room. A
few days later I had a chance to talk to Chad and he related to me
some of his memories. Chad didn’t know me before the episode.
Our church had thousands of people, and I was called in because of
his grandmother. When I walked into the room for the first time a
couple of weeks later, his eyes got very bright, and he looked at me
and said, "You are the one!" He went on to
explain his memory of that first night after surgery. He said a man,
me, had walked into ICU and standing right next to me was Jesus! Chad
wanted to know if I knew Jesus was right next to me. I was shocked by
what he said, and simply said no. I had not sensed or seen anything.
When
I assured him that I believed him, he continued to tell me another
story. During the surgery he said that he could see the whole thing.
He, Jesus, and Father God (yes, the three of them) were above
watching the surgery. Here is another part that may challenge you,
but know this young man was sincere and grateful - He said Jesus even
told a couple of jokes during the surgery.
Chad
quickly recovered to about 80% of his mental capacity. Physically he
has all of his abilities. It was truly a major miracle. Chad’s
grandmother was an incredible woman of faith and got literally
hundreds of people praying right away. I was just privileged to be
running "point" on this battle.
This
story may challenge your theology or your faith level. The Bible of
course is always our foundation. Nothing I experienced during this
event contradicted scriptures truths. I don’t know why Chad was
not 100% healed. I don’t know why Chad was spared when others
aren’t, even though I do believe it is not arbitrary. In
Chad’s case I am led to believe the massive amount of immediate
prayer was a factor.
Insight
to apply to your Christian Home Based Business:
Hopefully
you will never have a battle to fight in your family like
Chad’s. One of the benefits I have experienced in a Christian
home business is cultivating many great friendships where we pray for
each other - not just business stuff, but the family stuff that
affects business also.
One
possible application: Pray. Prayer works. Don’t forget to
pray for your business.
