(a true testimony of God's Love)
This morning,
in the wee hours of the morning,
my Loving Heavenly
Father
brought to my
remembrance an event
from many, many
years ago.
Although this
story is so very special
to me, I feel
very certain that it is not
one unique only
to me personally.
I say that because
this story has more
than likely taken
place in the lives of many,
many people.
As in the words
of a very old gospel song,
(which some reading
these words may or may not
have ever heard),
“It is no secret what God can do”. That statement is the name of that old song and
the very best
line in that entire song is
“What
He's done for others, He'll do for you.”
I make no claims
of being a writer, but will
only relate this
true story as best I can.
I was about 21
years of age, married a couple
of years, and
we had two sons.
The first we
named Kenneth Dean
and the youngest
we named Keith Allen.
I was in the
U.S.Navy and had been sent
to Washington
D.C. for schooling on
a new computer
system which was about to be installed
on a ship named
the U.S. Saratoga, an Aircraft Carrier.
For the first
time in my marriage, I
was separated
from my wife and children.
I hated being
split apart.
I was scheduled
to attend schooling for a couple
of months with
the IBM corporation in Washington D.C., and then on to Columbus Ohio at North American Aviation for more schooling.
This took place
so long ago that I can only
estimate the
times as best I can.
I had been there,
in Wash. D.C., for only
a few weeks when
I received a phone call
from my wife
saying that our youngest
son, Keith, was
in Stanford Univ. Hospital
with double pneumonia
and was
not expected
to live until the next day.
Because it was
after hours (around 6 Pm
as I remember)
I could not leave for California
until the next
morning.
To even attempt
to describe the feelings of agony, torment and hopelessness, I can NOT put into words.
That would require
far much more writing skill than
I have, so let
it suffice to say
that I was tormented
beyond anything
I had previously
ever thought possible.
Minutes became
like hours and seconds ticked
by so slowly,
that it seemed as if the second
hand moved one
tick forward and two back.
Finally, after
what seemed like an eternity,
it was time for
lights out. That was 10 PM
and I still had
until 8 AM the next day
before the personal
office
would be open
so I could obtain the necessary paperwork
for my flight
back to California.
After lights
out, there was only darkness
with no way of
knowing if time was still
moving, or if
it had ceased entirely.
For what seemed
to be an eternity I prayed,
I begged,I pleaded,
I cried.
I can thank my
God that he didn't allow
Satan access
to tempt me at this time,
because I'm not
certain what I would
have given for
my son's life.
I know now for
sure and certain that
my God will not
allow us to be tempted
beyond that which
we are able to bear.
When I think
about the word “Eternity”
today, I feel
as I do have some idea
as to how very
long that would seem to
one in Hell,
because that's exactly
where I felt
I was.
Finally after
this eternity, or at least so it seemed,
had passed, I
heard the night watchman
making his rounds
through our barracks.
As he passed
my bunk, I whispered
to him asking
what time it is.
He shined his
flashlight on his watch
and whispered
back, “It's exactly MIDNIGHT”,
12 PM in Wash.D.C.
That was the
last thing I remembered.
It seemed the
very next instant it was
morning and I
was on a plane headed
for California.
My wife was to
pick me up at the San Francisco
Airport.
My eyes searched
frantically the front entrance
to S.F.airport,
and then, I saw her
coming in the
front door.
As I walked slowly
towards her,
my eyes searched
deeply into hers
and I can still
remember that feeling of dread
for what she
might say as to Keith's
condition.
For what seemed
to me like forever,
not one single
word was spoken.
Finally I broke
the silence.
I asked, “...and
Keith?”
The strangest
look came over her face
and
her next words were these;
“The
most amazing thing happened last
night at 9
o'clock.
One minute
there were as many doctors
surrounding
Keith as could get around him,
and at 9 PM
he instantly was perfectly
healthy and
whole.”
(*the answer)
Keep in mind,
Keith had already
ceased to live
several times.
Stanford's team
of doctors
had worked frantically
for hours.
They would bring
him back to the living
over and over
again.
They would bring
him back for a few minutes
only to watch
him slip back into the land
of the dead.
As we headed
off to Stanford University Hospital,
I don't remember
a word being spoken.
I do plainly
remember the deal I
had struck with
my God-
“Please
don't let my son die. Save my son
and I'll
serve you all the days of my life.”
(*my midnight prayer)
Of course,
there is much more to THE REST OF
THE STORY as
Paul Harvey would say, but
would you like
to know the very most
amazing part
of all?
It was almost
12 years later when I came
across a story
in the Bible.
That story is
found in John 4: 46 – 52
It reads as follows.
“So
Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee,
where he made
the water wine. And there
was a certain
nobleman, whose son was sick
at Capernaum.
When he heard
that Jesus was come out
of Judaea into
Galilee, he went unto him,
and besought
him that he would come down,
and heal his
son: for he was at the point
of death.
Then said Jesus
unto him, Except you see signs
and wonders,
you will not believe.
The nobleman
saith unto him, Sir,
come down ere
my child die.
Jesus said unto
him, Go thy way;
thy son liveth.
And the man believed
the word that
Jesus had spoken
unto him, and
went his way.
And as he was
now going down, his servants met him,
and told him
saying, 'Thy Son liveth.'
Then inquired
he of them THE HOUR when
he began to amend.
And they said unto him, Yesterday
at the seventh
hour the fever left him.
So the man KNEW
that it was (at the same hour),
in the which
Jesus said unto him,
'Thy son liveth:'
and himself believed, and his
whole house.”
Just in case
anyone who reads these words
has missed the
similarity between this story
and mine let
me provide a clue.
At 12 midnight
in Wash. D.C., a poor tormented
soul cried out
to his God in agony and torment.
Cried out to
the same God he had believed
in since 7 years
of age. This same God he loved
as a child, but
thought he had outgrown any
need for. This
same faithful friend, who I had
so long ago forgotten.
He heard the cries of a lonely
and tormented
soul.
He gave unto
me the greatest Peace I had ever
known. I called
upon this same God I had for all practical purposes forgotten. The one thing of which I had no doubts about, was that 'God
could'. I cried out and He heard my cry.
I called out
in my hour of need. He heard.
In some strange
way,
He gave me a
peace which could only be described as supernatural.
I called on His
name and he remembered me.
This very same
God to whom I had so joyfully sang praises
to as a young
child. He remembered. He heard my cry.
I pray that you
know of Whom I speak. He is truly
the faithful
and true witness, The Beginning and the
End. To many,
He is Alpha and Omega.
But,
to tell only
the Truth,
on that particular
day I knew
none of those
names,
I knew only ONE
NAME on that day.
That name, as
I pray you have figured out
by now, was JESUS!
AND,
if by some miracle
you missed this,
let me just conclude
by mentioning
that
MIDNIGHT in Wash. D.C.
Is exactly 9
P.M in California.
God bless all
for taking of their time
to hear my true
testimony and story.
Above all these
things, however,
I would close
with my profound thanks
to a Loving and
Merciful Father.
If anyone would
understand losing a Son, it would
without one doubt
be
THE FATHER OF
JESUS.
