JN 14:8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
JN 14:9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? [10] Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. [11] Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. [12] I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. [13] And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. [14] You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
(this is a meditation written about 9 years ago; didn't realize back then what I'd have avaialble now.)
I would like to share with you a life changing experience from a few years ago. What I went through in one brief morning brought me face to face in a spiritual sense with the power of these words from the book of John. It all started with a sincere faith and belief in Jesus Christ and a desire to surrender myself totally to Him to do His will for one late summer morning....
In September of 1996 Hurricane Fran hit the coast of North Carolina and did significant damage inland. It so happens I have an aunt and uncle in a little town called Spivey’s Corners NC. (about a 40 minute drive from Wilmington). (My Uncle Roger is a Baptist Minister who also has a radio counseling program) Their region was severally hit by the storms. Tornadoes and high winds ripped through the countryside uprooting those beautiful southern pines as though they were tooth picks. Homes were destroyed and power outages were common throughout the state.
In 1989 I had gone with a group of men from our church to do relief work just 30 days after Hugo had hit the Charleston area. I was hoping to rally the gang to go and do a similar trip again this time. As it turned out I had the time in my schedule and no one else was able to go with me. I truly felt led by the Spirit to go and so I did.
I was amazed when I got there how well organized everyone was and how just two weeks after the storm they were much further into recovery than the greater Charleston area had been 7 years earlier.
On the second day after I arrived at my aunt and uncle’s home, there were only my young cousin Joshua (then 14), and myself available to go out and do volunteer work. We were headed out to “free lance”. Just find somebody that need help clearing trees and hop out of the truck to help them.
As we pulled out of the driveway I uttered a breath prayer, “Lord you know what needs to be done. Show us the way.” I drove and Josh navigated. At each intersection he called the turns as we wandered through the countryside looking for someone to help. As we scoured the countryside there came a point in time when I felt compelled to go against Josh’s directions to turn right. “I need to go left,” I told him.
At the next intersection Josh said, “I suppose you need to go left again.”
“As a matter of fact I do” I replied.
About 200 hundred yards down the road I spotted an older woman coming around from behind her home in her bathing suit.
“Look,” I said, “I’ll bet that little old lady needs some help!” Of course I was acting a little sarcastic when I said it.
Her house was set in a very rural area with most other homes 100 yards away or more. As we drew closer she began to wave at us frantically.
“See!” I told Josh. “She even needs our help!” That was the last smart remark I made for several days. Our lives were about to be impacted permanently.
I’ll spare you all the conversation that passed in the next few minutes. The reality of the situation was that this 83 year old legally blind woman had just come back to consciousness as we rounded the corner onto her road. She had been robbed, sexual assaulted, beaten and left for dead in broad daylight in the middle of a beautiful sunny morning.
She was not in a bathing suit, she was in her underwear. She wanted us to leave her, call for the sheriff department, and bring them back to her home. She felt the assailant was still there. We finally persuaded her to hop in the truck and that we would seek help at the first neighbor that was home. Her head had a nasty wound still bleeding on the back side. Her eyes were starting to swell from the beating. Dried blood was all about her face and the front of her clothes indicating the incident probably took place over an extended period of time.
As we waited for sheriff deputies and an ambulance to show up at a neighbor’s house, she could not thank us often enough. She held both Josh’s and my hand and said over and over again that we were guardian angels sent from God and that it was a miracle we had found her. She said over and over again that we were the answer to her prayers as she lay on her kitchen floor assuming she was going to die. We both assured her that we were no angels but there was no mistake that God led us there.
Well, this Buckeye boy thought for sure that he was going to be pulled in for questioning at the least. Who was going to believe that I was 1000 miles from home and just happened to be in the neighborhood looking for someone to help. The sheriff’s department took my name and address and I never heard from them again. I did not even learn the lady's name. I did hear a couple of weeks later that she was released from the hospital and plans were being made for her to be cared for by her daughter.
Josh and I will never forget what we witness that day. I learned so many things about the Holy Spirit.
God does answer prayer!
God uses us to do his work and to answer other people’s prayers!
When he answers even a breath prayer I now understand what “Thy will be done” means!
God does perform miracles even today!
When we surrender ourselves to the Lord, we truly are used by Him.
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." I saw enough that day to make my faith leap to a new level that will never let me go back to being a mediocre pew potato again.
He knows my name,
He knows my every thought,
He sees the tears that fall,
And hears me when I call.
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