When Benjamin, our eldest son, was only six years old he had a seizure while he was at Sunday School. We rushed him to the hospital and he was admitted so they could run tests to determine the cause. That was a pretty scary time for us but we kept praying and holding on to God. We were living in a foreign country without family around to act as our support system, but our church family rallied around us. Over thirty of them crowded into the hospital waiting room and had to be sent home by the staff. Others gladly took care of Matthew and Alannah so that Brad and I could be with Benjamin. But even though we had supporters lifting us up we still longed to hear God's voice in all the chaos.
During the days spent in the hospital Benjamin was run through a gamut of tests but the nights were pretty quiet. It was on one of those nights, at 3 A.M. when I heard God speak. The nurse came to the door of the hospital room and said that my pastor was here to see me. I didn't think it was unusual because Pastor Green often showed up in hospital rooms unexpectedly because he had felt a burden to do so. But when I opened the door it wasn't Pastor Green standing there but Rev. Marlon Allers, a fellow classmate of my husband's in university.
Marlon told me that he had to come. He had been at the gym, working out, when the Lord spoke very clearly to him and told him to go right away to see Benjamin and to give him a message from God. When Marlon told me this, I sat up a little straighter and paid attention. He started by saying "thus saith the Lord" and went on to tell me that "this is only a test, a test of your faith. It will only last one year but will accomplish what the Lord intends. This will be a reminder to Benjamin that the Lord is with him. He will be a minister of the gospel and will see hundreds and thousands come to know the Lord." He said many other things that night but that is what stuck out in my mind to remember. When he was finished speaking he left as abruptly as he had arrived.
As soon as Brad arrived to visit the next morning I told him what had happened and we rejoiced knowing that God had spoken to us through Marlon. The tests revealed that Benjamin had epilepsy. The doctor said that he would have it all his life and gave him medication to take every day. He said he would do a yearly check up to determine the level of medication Ben should be on. Then we were released from the hospital and we went home.
Brad went back to school and as he was changing classes a young woman, carrying books, stopped him and asked if he was the man who had a son with epilepsy. This wasn't that unusual because at the beginning of each class students shared prayer requests and Brad had asked for prayer for his son. But then the woman said to Brad "I have a message from the Lord for you, thus saith the Lord....." and she went on to say the same things which Marlon had told us. After she was finished she left and Brad ran to the Campus Safety office, where it was his job to photo I.D. every student. He knew he had never seen her on campus before and wanted to make sure by searching through the photos while her face was still fresh in his mind. He didn't find her. And we believe that God had sent an angel as a messenger (Hebrews 13:2). Brad never saw her again.
God spoke to us through two people. He wanted us to know for sure that it was Him who had spoken. He confirmed it to us. After a year we went back to the T.C.Thompson Children's Hospital in Chattanooga, T.N. to see the neurologist who had diagnosed Benjamin one year earlier with epilepsy. He ran tests again and found no abnormal brain activity. He couldn't understand what had happened so I had the opportunity to tell him about our faith. I told him the whole story about God speaking through Marlon and the unknown woman. I told him how God had assured us that Benjamin would only have epilepsy for one year. The doctor just smiled and said that he believed in miracles too.
Benjamin is now almost 23 years old and is pastoring his second church. He has been pastoring since he was 19. He has seen souls saved and lives restored. He is planning to go on a missions trip to bring Bibles to the Roma gypsy people of Bulgaria. He is engaged to be married. And he has not had a seizure since he was six.
God still speaks to His people. Sometimes its through a huge event. But sometimes its a whisper. Listen for His voice, it's there.
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 1 Kings 19:11-12
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