Automated Attendant

Today I called a number for "customer service" for a TV that is not functioning. I was greeted by a warm and friendly automated attendant. You know the drill: press 1 for service; press 2 if you still want service; press 3 if you are losing patience, etc. Well, I worked my way through the selections two or three times. Each time, no matter what I pressed, I was dumped back to the original menu. (Fortunately there wasn't a recording telling me how important I am as a customer) Eventually, I pressed "O" for the operator. The operator was very helpful and I was connected with the customer service department. All of God's qualities amaze me. But, perhaps the most amazing is the fact that God hears every prayer from everyone. When I pray - I always have the ear of a "live" God. Lynn and I have many examples in our lives that we cherish where God has answered prayers in a very specific manner. Those answers do much more than "prove" to us that God exists. They affirm His great love for each of us.

I will share one example. In 1997 I had a mole removed from the back of my left leg. The mole was sent for a biopsy and the report came back that it was malignant melanoma. Subsequently, I had more tissue removed from my leg and it was determined that all the malignancy was gone. This was one of the most frightening times in my life. I was serving as a pastor in Arizona at the time and I had just watched a good friend die from a cancer that began as a similar malignant melanoma.

A couple of years later Lynn, Nick and I had moved to Virginia. After a visit to my dermatologist he decided that I needed to have another mole removed from my foot. While awaiting the report of the biopsy I became very fearful. One day while I was home alone I began to pray and ask for God to help me with my fear. I had been reading in the Scriptures how God delivered His people from the Egyptians when they pursued them to the Red Sea. The words caught my attention in Exodus 14:13-14
"Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever"

I decided to pray and ask God to provide help with my fear. I prayed specifically that the words of Exodus 14:13 would be my testimony. I prayed that my fear of this report and of cancer would be "no more". A few days later I received a good report from the doctor and I gave thanks to God. However this is not the end of the story. A couple of weeks later I was at church in Virginia on a Sunday night. A man named Jerry came to me at the close of the Sunday evening service and asked if he could share something with me. He seemed uncomfortable but he told me that he thought that God wanted him to say something to me. He said he didn't know whether it would make sense to me or not. He told me that the words that God had placed on his heart for me were "no more". I assured him that those words were very very meaningful to me and that God had answered a prayer specifically for me.