{"id":4792,"date":"2014-05-23T01:01:30","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T01:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=4792"},"modified":"2014-05-24T17:42:31","modified_gmt":"2014-05-24T17:42:31","slug":"a-tale-of-two-tales-part-5-not-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=4792","title":{"rendered":"A tale of two tales, Part 5: Not alone"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2026for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]<\/em> Hebrews 13:5b, AMP<\/p>\n

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,<\/em> where Jesus has entered\u2026<\/em> Hebrews 6:19-20a<\/p>\n

Tuesday evening, August 5, 2003, the day after by-pass<\/span>. I sat up in my hospital bed, wires and tubes attached everywhere, and watched the news. Time was blurred, and I was aware of the fact that I had completely lost a day or so, but here I was, done with surgery and ready to mend. And then something on the NBC\u00a0Nightly News jolted me. \u201cThe FBI has issued a warning about bombs being smuggled into the country in briefcases, laptops, and cell phones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last night! <\/em>I remembered.\u00a0I woke up last night after by-pass in that dark ICU room with nurses fluttering around me like ministering angels…and I heard from God…and saw what this news report is talking about!<\/em><\/p>\n

Wee hours of the morning, Tuesday, August 5, ICU<\/span>. I awoke from the sleep of death with a deep, crushing pain\u00a0in my chest. I\u2019ve been hit by a truck!<\/em> I thought, and then remembered\u2014I just had by-pass. <\/em>And as I lay there, pondering, I became aware of Someone Else who had been crushed. He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging, we are healed<\/em> (Isaiah 53:5b). That Scripture became my inward fixation; I pulled as much of that chapter as I could from deep within me, repeating it to myself over and over,\u00a0like a drowning woman clinging to a rope. And as the nurses ministered, \u00a0I focused on the One who was crushed for me\u2014and an amazing transaction took place. I became aware of His<\/em> intense pain that day on Calvary and felt my<\/em> pain being swallowed up by His. Yes, the pain was there, but I could feel Him bearing it. And the more I\u00a0mused on\u00a0His battered body on that cross, bearing my pain,\u00a0grief for the One who died such a brutal death\u00a0flooded me. I grabbed the blonde nurse attending me. \u201cWhy couldn\u2019t Jesus have gone to this hospital? You guys would have helped Him!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cO-Kay….\u201d she said. I may have been drugged, but I could tell an \u201care-you-ever-weird\u201d tone of voice when I heard one. But I didn\u2019t care in the least.<\/p>\n

I settled back down and saw a series of three scenes. After each one, I prayed that I would remember it and repeated\u00a0them all\u00a0to myself to commit each one to memory. I felt they were significant.<\/p>\n

Scene 1<\/span>: I was in the lobby of a world-class hotel in a big city (I thought it might be New York). I saw a man set a briefcase on a bench under lush plants, leaving it there. \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d I asked the Lord. \u201cIt\u2019s a bomb,\u201d He replied. Less than 24 hours later, I heard about the\u00a0same thing\u00a0on NBC.<\/p>\n

Scene 2<\/span>: I was in an empty baseball stadium. I saw three men on the field by the stands who appeared to be from the middle-east. Because they were wearing dark blue baseball caps, \u00a0I had a feeling we were at Dodger stadium in LA. I asked the Lord, \u201cWho are these men?\u201d He replied, \u201cThey are terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scene 3<\/span>: I was outside the administration building of my school district. I saw three people confined to wheelchairs. One was the female coordinator of Social Studies and Communication Arts, and the other two were men I didn\u2019t recognize. I asked the Lord, \u201cWhy are they in wheelchairs?\u201d He replied, \u201cBecause of the work load and the extreme stress they are under, they are being crippled.\u201d<\/p>\n

I prayed over each scene and committed to pray even more when I was clearer-headed. Later, in 2008, I ran into the coordinator in Scene 3. I shared with\u00a0her what I had seen that night. As she repeated the date, August, 2003, a look of recognition and shock came over her face and the color drained out. She identified the men\u2014her fellow coordinators\u2014and remembered the strain and anguish of that season in their careers. \u201cYes, we were suffocating under the stress in the district; we wondered\u00a0among ourselves\u00a0how we would ever make it…you saw that?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, and I prayed for you while I was in the ICU.\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0cares about\u00a0you three; I guess He just wants you to know how much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday, August 3, 2003<\/span>. At the Sunday night prayer meeting at church, I prayed with others about the time I would be \u201cout\u201d in surgery the next day.\u00a0My body would\u00a0be\u00a0hooked to\u00a0a machine to\u00a0circulate my blood and breathe for me while my heart was stopped, but\u00a0I<\/em><\/strong>\u2014the real<\/em> me\u2014would\u00a0be out there somewhere<\/em>. I asked God to do whatever He wanted with me during that \u201ctime out\u201d period\u2014whether it was to just rest or to visit with Him or to fight devils\u2014I was ready and available, and I trusted Him for His protection and leading.<\/p>\n

Interpersonal attack, summer 2003<\/span>. After I learned I would be needing by-pass to avoid sudden death, things seemed to ramp up in the spirit against me. I have learned that this is a favorite\u00a0tactic of the devil to bring despair, defeat, and discouragement right when you need massive doses of faith, hope, and joy. But good news\u2014I’ve also learned that the Lord is faithful to navigate you safely through it all. In a nutshell, this is what I encountered:<\/p>\n