Yesterday I shared with you that “Bob,” after years of being spoon fed the Word did not have the capacity to interact with the Word on his own. But there is more to the story.
My friend and I met with Bob for several months. One night we were engaged in a topical study on prayer. During the conversation I shared a cross reference, James 5:16, as I started to read the verse, Bob nearly came out of his wheelchair with excitement. He quoted the verse and then with great passion told us that when he was in the VA hospital in Louisville, one night after dinner he came back to his bed and someone had put a card on his pillow printed with James 5:16. As he told the story he was lit up with joy. He shared how much that meant to him and how that verse had sustained him over the years.
That event was over 50 years ago. Yet it still moved Bob nearly to tears. Think of it. Some unknown person waking through a ward in a VA hospital puts a card on the pillow of a person they did not know. They had no idea if the person would read the card or simply throw it away. They still don’t. Bob does not know who put the card there, only that the verse has sustained him for over 50 years.
That small act has borne fruit in Bob’s life, in my friend and my life as Bob shared it, and with others with whom I have shared the power of a simple act of reaching out in and through the Word of God.
Isaiah 55:11 and Hebrews 4:12 – 13 tell us that we should not be surprised at small acts of faith based on and in His Word. However, it is still amazing to have that validated so powerfully.
That event was over 50 years ago. Yet it still moved Bob nearly to tears. Think of it. Some unknown person waking through a ward in a VA hospital puts a card on the pillow of a person they did not know. They had no idea if the person would read the card or simply throw it away. They still don’t. Bob does not know who put the card there, only that the verse has sustained him for over 50 years.
That small act has borne fruit in Bob’s life, in my friend and my life as Bob shared it, and with others with whom I have shared the power of a simple act of reaching out in and through the Word of God.
Isaiah 55:11 and Hebrews 4:12 – 13 tell us that we should not be surprised at small acts of faith based on and in His Word. However, it is still amazing to have that validated so powerfully.
Faith does not receive its power from its
ReplyDeletesize - but from the object of the faith. Faith in faith is perhaps the most terrible deception of them all.
I've been trying to live in Isaiah 45 lately, especially vs.15-25. Verse 22,23 especially relate to this, I think:
Isaiah 45:22, 23 (NASB)
"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance."
We can't separate God and His word. He is always "God who cannot lie." The tiniest amount of faith (and subsequent action on it) in God, through His word, can move mountains.
Hummm...seems I've read that somewhere before....