That is exactly what happened to me. I had been praying for God to use me to
reach out to the lost. I won't bore you with the details of how I ended up in
the hospital, I'm sure you'll understand when I say "It wasn't fun". The
emergency room was so cold the nurses kept bringing me warm blankets to keep me
from shivering. Finally two of them came to me with great big smiles and
announced they finally got me a room upstairs.
"We'd better take you up now before someone else takes it on you," they said.
The thought crossed my mind that perhaps they were so happy to escort me out of
the emergency room because they were just tired of trying to keep me warm!
The moment the nurses wheeled me into my "new home" I knew I wasn't going to be
happy there, either! There was a terrible smell in the air, and it was just
about more than I could take. I said a small prayer for grace, and then it
immediately came to my mind that the room was much warmer. "OK Lord, thanks!" I
said. "But you will also need to give me the grace to stand this smell!"
Suddenly, I remembered the raspberry-scented hand cream I had stuck in my coat
pocket before I left home. I pulled it out and put it where I could "sniff" it
whenever necessary! To my surprise, there was a Bible in the night table drawer
-- an easy to read New Testament with Psalms in large fonts. It even had a page
leading you to scriptures for specific problems!
Then I met Tilly, my roommate. She was a sweet little lady in her seventies. It
was evident that she and her husband of many years have been happily married and
enjoyed life. They refuse to be the retired old fogies and took every
opportunity to live life to the fullest. So it was that during one of their
cha-cha dancing lines at their community dance, Tilly fell and broke her hip.
Her surgery hadn't been enough to bring her spirits down, but the medication she
had to take for her heart and iron deficiency were giving her the worst stomach
cramps imaginable, and it was those same stomach cramps that kept both of us
awake most of the night!
It seemed to me that Tilly was delirious. Every once in a while she would ask,
"Is that your your son?" At other times she thought that there were children
coming and going in the room. Since there wasn't anyone around, I decided that
she must be hearing some of the voices outside the room. Nevertheless, it made
me feel a bit uncomfortable so I decided to pray for our protection. Then the
Lord encouraged me to pray for the protection of the entire hospital!
Just after midnight, when I had finally started to doze off, I heard my roommate
laugh out loud.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
Her answer really woke me up with a start.
"Well, I am in a lot of pain, and I can't sleep, but I sure am enjoying the
motorcycle show up in the air!" She said.
"What show?" I asked. | got up to look out the window, but there was nothing but
a parking lot half filled with parked cars and an ambulance that was coming in.
Uh-uh, I thought; Jesus, what did you get me into?
"There's no air show; that's just the ambulance's flashing lights," I said,
trying to reassure her. Then I closed the blinds to keep the light from
bothering her, and after hearing her murmured "Thank you," we both renewed our
efforts to get some sleep.
Not only did the medication Tilly was taking cause severe abdominal cramps, but
it also caused the need for the nursing staff to come in and change Tilly about
once an hour. The 4th time the nurses were called in, Tilly began going on and
on about the "motorcycle show" again. But when I looked to the window, the
blinds I had closed earlier were still closed.
The nursed looked at me as if to say, "she's not dealing with a full deck", then
turned to Tillie and said, "Tillie, you haven't been sleeping well the last few
nights. I think you are suffering from sleep deprivation. What you are seeing is
not real. You are just imagining it. Try to get some rest, sweetie"
But Tilly needed to continue her story. "The leader was wearing a black robe
with gold trimmings around its edge," she insisted. "There are cars with
beautiful lights that weave in and out in front of this creature. What beautiful
lights! I am really enjoying them!" Then she paused, and almost hesitatingly she
admitted, "But I'm not sure this is a good thing!"
I sensed spiritual warfare going on against the hospital, and the words of the
Apostle Paul came to mind: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph. 6:12).
I then recalled that he says in 2 Corinthians 10:1-6 that the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong
hold; casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the
obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when
your obedience is fulfilled.
"Lord," I prayed, "You know the only power I have over this demonic power Tilly
is talking about is to use Your Word to pull down the strong holds that are
trying to come in to rob, kill and destroy the many souls in this place. Father,
Revelations 12:11 says 'And they overcame him (Satan), by the Blood of the Lamb,
and the word of their testimony,' I testify the Word of God and remind Satan he
has been defeated!"
Morning came, and the doctor told me that I would be released when the lung
specialist had had a chance to see the result of my X- rays. But something went
wrong, and some miscommunication between the doctors forced me to stay until the
nurses got in touch with my doctor, who, naturally, wasn't available. I was
upset, to say the least! But a still, small voice that I recognized as the
Lord's said, "I sent you here to tell Tilly about Me. Why haven't you done it?"
Now, normally I would have no trouble including the Lord in my conversations,
but that morning my mind was totally blank. I prayed, but the words in my heart
wouldn't come out my mouth. Later, as I was speaking on the phone with my
pastor, a lady who didn't look like hospital staff came in the room and went to
chat with my roommate. I heard what sounded like Tilly repeating a prayer: "I am
not worthy Oh Lord . . ." It sounded like the lady was giving her Communion.
After I hung up the phone, I felt the Lord say, "You need to tell her about Me
soon, Nancy, and you need to tell her that the air show she sees is not of Me,
but if she accepts My gift of Salvation, she will not have to fear, for she will
have the power of My Blood."
Someone once said, "The work of the ministry is a spiritual warfare with
spiritual enemies, and for spiritual purposes. And the preaching of the cross,
by men of faith and prayer, has always been fatal to idolatry, impiety, and
wickedness". How true that is! I had my work cut out for me, and since I my
friend's salvation depended on my obedience, I had to do it right! "How do I do
this Lord," I whispered. "Show me! Give me the words and the opportunity so that
she may accept You. Lord, You know I'm leaving soon!"
The answer was so quick and painless that I later wondered why had I been so
concerned. Tilly and I started talking about Communion, about confession of sin,
and about the need of a Savior. I told her she was right when she said she was
not worthy of forgiveness, but in His Mercy, God made a way to pour out his love
on us, and give us the power to overcome the enemy through the Power of the
Blood of Jesus. I asked her if she had ever accepted Christ in her heart, and
when she said "no", I began telling her about God's plan of Salvation.
It was at this point that she stopped me: "Dear, how do I ask Him to come in and
forgive me?"
Wow!!! This lady was desperate and didn't want to live one more minute without
Jesus! This was awesome. My God had heard my prayer to make me an instrument of
His Love so that I may be used to increase His Kingdom!
Tilly said the sinners prayer and I prayed for peace to fill her. I gave her the
Bible I had found in the night table drawer, and she talked to me a little
longer, but she was so hungry for the Word, it was difficult for her to put it
down.
Isn't God awesome? When we yield our spirits to Him, He puts us right where He
needs us to be. Then He gives us the wisdom to deal with whatever situation
arises, gives us the words to say, and provides the opportunity to say them!
But I learned an even bigger lesson that day. Tilly's insistence upon seeing the
"motorcycle show" over the hospital emergency room, made me realized that Satan
and his demons were hard at work right there in that hospital. People who don't
know Christ could come in and die and be condemned forever! Unfortunately, many
of us, like Tilly, see it all as just a beautiful show in the air -- a sinful
life that is fun for a little while, but never quite reveals to us the depth of
the death that is behind it.
As Christians we are very complacent. We pray, but we don't listen for God's
responses. We read the Bible, but we only accept the Words that appeal to us.
The way we live our lives often renders us blind to the spiritual warfare going
on around us. We need to speak out to the North, to the South, to the East and
to the West in the Name of Jesus and command the enemy forces to release the
God's people!
God bless you all!
"I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall
not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also
shall rest in hope" (Psalm 16:8-9)
In Christ, Nancy Reindl
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