Yesterday, at a high-performance Chicago hospital, Mary, Bervin, and several of their adult children were on the oncology floor awaiting time in the conference room. They were there to listen to a handful of highly-reputed doctors explain what was happening inside Mary’s body, along with what they felt ought to be done about it.
At my home in Michigan, prayers were going up every hour requesting wisdom, discernment, and understanding, both for doctors and also Mary and family. We prayed God’s preparation into all of them and also his peace, confident he had heard and delivered.
But the scores of steady prayers rising from Michigan were just a drop in a very big prayer-bucket. All around the nation and in several foreign countries people were praying for Mary in droves.
I attended one of those doctor-meetings with Nate and know the stress of those moments. Finding out if someone will live or die is about as difficult as it gets, which is why all the people who love Mary were unceasing in their prayers. And when the meeting began with each doctor taking a turn, a remarkable drama unfolded.
As Mary told it, “I’ve always been on the praying end of a crisis, but this time I was the one being prayed for. The presence of God’s Spirit in that conference room was palpable. I saw it in the behavior of the doctors and in the faces of my children.”
She went on to say, “In my 70 years, I’ve never felt the strong, literal presence of the Lord that powerfully.”
Many people feel that since we can’t see the spirit world, we can’t be sure of what’s happening there, but Mary testified otherwise. As she described yesterday’s events, she said she became aware of God actively answering thousands of prayers prayed over her. “I absolutely knew it,” she said. “It was real, and he was moving among us, accomplishing answers to those many requests.”
Mary said that as she sat listening to doctors, she was completely enveloped in a bubble of peace. Because of the nature of the meeting, experiencing such tranquility wasn’t natural. The only explanation is that it was supernatural, a gift from God, an answer to many prayers.
God isn’t stingy with this kind of atypical peace. He offers it to anyone who wants it, in any set of circumstances. He says, “Ask me, and then trust me to deliver it.” We don’t even need a life and death crisis for him to wrap us in that same unlikely peace.
The Spirit is ready, whenever we are.
“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” (John 14:26-27)
Mary’s prayer requests (from Mayo Clinic, where they are getting a 2nd opinion):
- For courage and strength as additional blood test results come in tomorrow
- For Bervin and Luke as they try to be strong for Mary while suffering themselves
- For God to be glorified as “his power is made perfect in weakness.”