Miracles (25 page)

“Do you have a service tonight?”

“Yes,” Bree said, “but are you sure you want to come this soon?”

“Yes, I'm sure.” His face took on a determined look. “I made some promises to God while I was sitting at the burial service, and I think it's time I started keeping them. My kids and I will be there tonight. We'll see if God will really give me another chance.”

15

C
ARL'S FEET DIDN'T SEEM TO HAVE A DIRECTION AS they left the Grisham house, so he and the others each decided to go home and rest before church.

Bree's mother was napping when she got home, and her children were still at their friend's.

She went to her room and opened her Bible. She'd never been one to spend a lot of time poring over Scripture, but now she felt it was a missing piece in her life. And it was a piece she needed for the job God had set before her. Even so, she feared it was too late to catch up. The Lord had given her a job to do, but she had flippantly skipped the training.

She opened to Romans and turned a few pages, then her eyes fell to a highlighted passage—Romans 12. Her pastor had preached on this last week, just days before the earthquake. His sermon was about equipping the Body of Christ and how each believer had different gifts, but all those gifts worked together.

How appropriate! And why was she surprised that the Lord had led her to this today? Smiling, she began to read.

The moment Carl was inside his apartment, his feet led him straight to his Bible. It lay open on his bed table, and he picked it up and took it in the living room to the couch. He sat down and turned on the lamp, then opened it to a passage he'd highlighted in yellow. Romans 12.

“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind . . .”

Carl stopped reading and stared at the page, running those last few words through his mind:
Transformed by the renewing of your mind
.

He thought about those words, over and over, trying to crack the code that had always seemed like gibberish before.

And then he understood. Just because his feet were running all over the place in his rescue operation for God, it didn't in any way mean he was better than any other Christian. And that meant his mind and heart had some growing to do.

He read on.

. . . “that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”

Carl got up and paced his apartment, rubbing the back of his neck. He was no super-athlete, running the hundred-yard dash from disaster to broken heart. He was just a short, skinny, bald guy, like he'd always been.

But he was chosen by God, not just to have amazing feet, but for salvation, and eternal life, and a share in Christ's own inheritance. He went back to his Bible and read on.

“For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

He sat back down and stared at a nail hole on his wall. No doubt about it, the Lord was speaking to him. And with all his heart, he determined that he would listen.

Andy tried to sleep when he got home, but he kept looking at his Bible, lying open on the desk in the corner of his room. He was dog tired. He had stayed up all night last night, reading Scripture and trying to prepare himself for the situations the Lord would put him in today. But now he felt compelled to read and study more.

He got up and went to his desk, then looked down at the passage on the open page.

And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Andy frowned. A jolt went through him that the Lord was speaking to him, as clearly as if He had appeared to him. “Why did You show me this, Lord?”

He walked around his small house, processing what he'd read. “We've got these gifts and we've used them together . . . But there are other gifts, and other gifted people . . .”

His voice trailed off, and he picked the Bible up.

“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.”

“I will, Lord. No matter what, I will. I understand that the work doesn't stop when we lead people to You. There's more to be done.” He swallowed, feeling humbled and small. “Teach me, Lord. I'm listening.”

16

B
REE'S AFTERNOON OF STUDY LEFT HER FEELING more equipped than ever as she went back to church for the evening service. Carl and Andy waited in the parking lot for her, and she rushed toward them.

“I feel so good! I had a great Bible study this afternoon and I'm ready to go.”

“Me too.” Andy grinned. “I felt like God was talking right to me.”

“I had the same experience,” Carl said. “It was awesome.”

They started inside. The corridor was crowded with milling people, chattering and laughing before entering the sanctuary. She saw several visitors engaged in conversations with members.

A sickly looking woman with thinning hair and yellow skin met Bree's eyes.

She waited for the flash, but there was none. She glanced at the member who was talking to the woman, and hoped that she was filling the woman's needs.

Bree moved on, following Carl into the crowd, but he walked slowly, with no particular purpose. Andy walked in a brooding silence . . . just as he'd done so often before the quake.

Carl stopped and leaned back against the wall, looking around with a frown on his face. Bree stood there, waiting for him to tell her who to look at, but he was staring at the floor.

She turned and met another woman's eyes.

Nothing.

She looked at a man. A little girl. A teenage boy.

Lord, I don't see.

“Something's happened.” Andy's words turned her around, and she frowned up into his somber eyes.

“Yeah, let's find some place to talk. Carl?”

He nodded, but this time he didn't lead them. He followed as Andy led them up the hall.

All the way there, Bree locked into people's gazes, trying to see with her gift, trying to understand their hearts.

But nothing happened.

Finally, they reached the same room they'd gone into the other night, and Carl turned the light on.

“I've lost the gift.” They said it simultaneously, then caught their breath.

“You too?” Andy asked. “I thought it was just me.”

“I'm walking aimlessly,” Carl said. “My feet feel like lead.”

Bree shook her head. “And I've met the eyes of a dozen people and haven't had one flash.”

Carl sank down and propped his chin on the heels of his hands. “Man, what does
this
mean?”

“Maybe we blew it,” Andy said. “Maybe God took our gifts away because we didn't use them well enough.”

Bree couldn't believe that was true. “What more could we have done? We went until Carl's urge faded. Then I felt like God was sending us home to rest.”

“Then why?” Carl asked. “Why would He give us these precious gifts, then snatch them away?”

Bree shoved her fingers through her hair and tried to think. “You know, it's crazy. When I first got this gift, it scared me to death. Remember when we came in here the other night, and our heads were spinning because we didn't know what was happening? I didn't
want
the gift. But now that I've had it and I've seen its power, I don't want to lose it.”

She went to the window and looked out on one of the parking lots. It was going to be a record crowd for a Sunday night. So many people looking for God.

“Does this mean our work is over?” Carl asked the question on a raspy breath.

Bree turned back around.

“It can't be,” Andy said. “A Christian's work is never over. Ours just got started.”

“But how can we do it without the gifts?” Carl's question held a note of despair. “We'll go back to being just as useless and ineffective as we were before we got them.”

A knock sounded on the door, and Jim, the pastor, stuck his head in. “I saw you guys come in here. Am I interrupting anything?”

Andy got to his feet. “No, come on in, Jim.”

“I just wanted to ask you guys a favor. Tonight, I plan to have a testimony time in the service. I'd love to have the three of you talk about your miracle healings and how God's been working in you ever since. Would you mind sharing that with the congregation?”

Bree shot Andy an alarmed look. Carl just kept his eyes on his toes.

“I don't know how helpful we'd be, Jim.” Andy cleared his throat. “There must be someone better.”

Jim laughed. “Are you kidding? Who? You're the best example I've seen of the body of Christ in action.”

Carl looked up. “I could say a few words.”

Bree sighed. “Yeah, me too, for what it's worth.”

Andy was the last to give in. “All right. I'll think of something to say.”

When Jim had left them alone, they all stood there, staring at the door.

“I can't believe I agreed to that,” Andy said.

“Me either.” Bree crossed her arms. “So I guess we'd better start planning what we're going to say.”

Andy sighed. “Well, I guess we tell them about the healing. God didn't take that away from us, did he? My lungs and throat are fine. Carl can still walk. And you can see.”

Light began to dawn in Bree's heart. “You know . . . you're right. The healing stands.”

Carl got up. “And so does the fruit. God didn't revoke that, did He?”

Bree moved across the room and stood in front of both men. “Are we ungrateful, or what? Here I am feeling sorry for myself because I don't have x-ray vision, and for all intents and purposes, I'm supposed to be blinded beyond help.”

“Yeah, and I probably wouldn't have walked for the rest of my life.” Carl's eyes grew misty. “I feel like such a heel.”

Andy laughed. “No pun intended?”

They all grinned.

“So He gave us the gifts for forty-eight hours,” Andy said. “I don't think we need to feel punished because He took them back. We should feel blessed because He let us be a part of such a mighty work. And the truth is, we were all changed. I sure was.”

“Yeah, me too.” Bree's voice lowered to a soft whisper. “Now that I've had the chance to bear fruit, I don't think I'll ever go back to the way I was before.”

“Nope.” Carl took both of their hands. “I think maybe we owe God a prayer, a word of thanks, and a petition for His Holy Spirit to help us keep serving Him.”

So the three of them prayed.

17

B
REE'S CHILDREN MET HER IN THE SANCTUARY AND sat on either side of her in one of the front pews. Andy and Carl sat down the row from her.

As she sat there, warm gratitude washed over her that her life had been spared, that her children were fine, that her eyesight was as good as ever.

But she was different.

Thank You, Lord.

They sang and praised the Lord, then Jim launched into his sermon. Finally, he turned to the trio and asked them to come to the pulpit. As they made their way up, the congregation grew silent.

Andy took the lead. “Two days ago, the three of us were sitting in our office lounge after work, trying to get into a Bible study that was meant to be an outreach to our office. There was only one thing wrong. None of us had bothered to get the word out to the others in the office. So it was just us, and we were pretty pathetic. And then the earthquake came.”