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THE DAY I SAW JESUS God had me in just the right place, sitting on a table in the vestibule. Harry and I had arrived at Calvary Temple an hour early to hear the group from Trinity Broadcasting Company. The sanctuary was already filled when we arrived, and the table was the best we could find. The idea of leaving didn't even cross my mind. I had come with a deep desire and a need. In fact, I had earnestly prayed a week before that I might see Jesus. As we entered the church, the remembrance of that prayer and my deep longing stirred restlessly within the sanctuary of my heart. Harry decided to get a drink. I watched as he walked around the others who were trying to get positioned behind the windows. He passed by a child in a wheel chair. And as he did, the child reached out to him. The poor little guy swayed and contorted, unable to control his body. "How sad," I thought. "This little child would have to go through his entire life confined to a chair, able to extract but a crumb of childhood pleasures from the sidelines of life." The little boy stopped. He turned and looked at me. My heart leapt. I was looking at Jesus! I saw Jesus in that boy. It was impressed upon my heart so intensely, I knew I was looking at Jesus. The boy turned back and his movements continued. "I should invite his mother to take him forward for prayer," I thought. I pushed off the table and walked over to them. "Would you like to take your son to the altar for prayer after the service?" "Oh yes, yes, I'd love to. Oh thank you so much," she said. The years of heartbreak rallied in hope within her eyes. Harry had returned. He wrote a note explaining the boy's need, and addressed it to Arthur Blesset, one of the speakers. Arthur is a man of rare dedication and almost boundless love of God. He has carried a twelve-foot cross around the world, preaching the good news of salvation, healing the sick, comforting the broken hearted, and casting out demons. The head usher delivered the note to Arthur, and after the service, we all went forward. My heart was charged with expectation, intimate and exciting, like a woman in love with the unborn child she has not seen. I stood at the altar with this crippled youth through whom I had seen Jesus only an hour before. Arthur approached with a few older men, whom I guessed to be elders. He knelt before the boy and spoke on his behalf to our God and Father. When he finished, he stood up, and looked directly at me. There he was again! Only this time I was looking directly into the face of Jesus. His face was superimposed over Arthur's so strongly that I couldn't see Arthur's face at all. I saw Jesus' expression, full of compassion and love, yet filled with deep sorrow for all suffering humanity. I was bathed in warmth and comfort that both cleansed, purified, covered, and strengthened. Never again would I have to seek his likeness in an artist's version. Arthur leaned close to me, as Jesus might have done. He touched my shoulder, and prayed softly into my ear, speaking to God on my behalf. He quietly finished, "Lord, meet all her needs." I felt like a reservoir filled with floods of life, seeking a spillway of expression. I was prompted to leave quickly. As we approached the parking lot, the spillway opened, I began to cry uncontrollably. "Harry, I can't stop crying, I don't know why I'm crying. I'm not sad. I'm very happy." I cried all the way home. As it is written, "He that believeth on me . . . out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." These waters were pouring out of me, from my innermost soul. I wept often during the next few days. I still feel the flood. The tears have ceased, but the waters have not, nor has the dam or its content diminished. Nellie's experience gives us all something to consider. Nellie had been hungry and thirsty for Jesus. The Bible promises that such people will be filled and Nellie is still spilling over. Nellie will never be the same. She has received a revelation of Jesus, of his love and of his majesty. She has received that of which Christ spoke, "Upon this Rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." She has herself become a rock, solid and unyielding, a part of that true church of Christ which transcends denominations and all the traditions of men - the foundation upon which we may all be raised.-the revelation that Jesus is The Son of God. You may not see Jesus as Nellie did, but like most of us you can know Him and his love. You can have the strength to stand against adversity, to find joy and comfort within that same revelation: Jesus is the Son of God and your brother. Then from your inner being will flow rivers of living water. |
