I was laying in bed one night, praying for her and her doctor. Suddenly, I heard a voice. It was inside of me and outside of me.
“Lois is going to die.”
I bolted upright. “What?” I said, “What?”
“I’m telling you this ahead of time to prepare your heart.”
I slowly lowered myself back down into the bed. Was that the Lord, I wondered?
The next morning, I called a friend who is a prayer warrior. I told her about my experience and asked her to pray with me. Perhaps God would change his mind.
My sister came through the surgery and I flew down to Florida to be with her. Even though I still felt very uneasy inside, I assumed that what I had heard was not true.
My Sister still in the Hospital
When I arrived, my sister was still in the hospital. She could barely speak but the nurses assured us that she was fine. The next day, she was sitting up in bed and eating small amounts of applesauce.
In the middle of the night, the phone rang. Bob, my sister’s husband answered. He came to my room and said that Lois was having problems and the doctor wanted him to come in. I jumped into my clothes and we took off.
The nurses were having trouble stabilizing her. Her heart rate and blood pressure were erratic, and the breathing tube had been re-inserted into her throat. Once she was back to normal, we went home.
My sister was breathing, but unconscious
The following night the phone rang again. Once more we returned to the hospital. This time, my sister was breathing, but unconscious. She had developed water around her heart, and when they tried to remove it, she went into cardiac arrest. Her heart had stopped beating for four minutes. Now, a machine was doing her breathing. There was nothing more they could do for her.
We said our good=byes to her and left her with the doctor. He disconnected all the tubes and flashing monitors. She was gone.
Why did God tell me she would die before she had her surgery?
I think one reason is that she and I were so close. We had a very special connection. I don’t know the reason why she was taken, but I believe it was her time to go, and God was graciously assuring me that it was His plan and not a doctor’s mistake.
If God tells you something and it happens, you know you’ve heard from Him. But remember, it may not happen right away. It may take months, or years. Remember, God is not only working on your end but on the other end that you can’t see. It takes time to pull everything together.
One time, God told me that he was taking my son, Luke out of my hands because he had things to learn that I couldn’t teach him. Luke had been on drugs for over a year. Shortly after I heard from God, Luke was arrested for being drunk and was sent to a six-month rehabilitation facility. It completely turned him around. Throughout the whole time, I had peace about it. I knew what God had told me and I trusted that word.
If a friend comes to you and says, “God told me that He is sending you to Africa as a missionary,” you better check it out. If God told your friend, He will tell you, first. If you had been sensing that God wanted you as a missionary to Africa, then that friend’s word would be a confirmation.
Spiritual experiences are wonderful to have, but they shouldn’t take the place of developing a relationship with God. God wants fellowship with us. He wants us to walk by faith and not by feelings or experiences.
