Renovating Your MindSample

I woke up one Christmas Eve morning in excruciating pain. My neck had somehow gotten wrenched while I was sleeping and I could barely turn my head in either direction. Immediately, I started praying that God would heal me as it was Christ­mas Eve, and Michelle and I had a lot of plans. I began to get a little frustrated as I tried to figure out what I had done that caused my neck to be so out of whack, but I refused to allow it to get me down and I just kept praying.

As I thought about the best course of action, it came to mind that I should call my old chiropractor, whom I had not seen in about four years. But then I thought, “It’s Christmas Eve; he is not going to be working.” But I felt led to call his office anyway. Coincidently, he “just happened” to be there seeing one of his patients. We had a quick conversation about what was going on with my neck, and he said he could see me quickly before he left town that morning. 

After I got off of the phone with him, I felt the Lord say to me, “Patrick, maybe this appointment has nothing to do with you at all; maybe this appointment has to do with him.” The more I thought about this, the more I had peace about what was going on. On my way to his office, I prayed, “Father, please impress on my heart whatever it is that You want me to say to him and I will say it.” 

Once I got there, we caught up a little bit, and then he began working on my neck and shoulder. As he was doing this, I shared with him what the Lord had impressed on my heart that morning—that all of this had nothing to do with me, but everything to do with him. 

He was kind of taken back by what I said, and I began to sense that there was something going on in his life that was troubling him. We began to talk about prayer, God, church, and the Bible, and eventually, I asked him if I could pray for him. He gladly agreed, and I prayed what I believed the Lord wanted me to pray. When I had finished praying, he grabbed me and gave me a big hug as if to say, “Thank you, I really needed that.” It was in that moment that I felt the Lord say to me, “It’s not enough to pray for him, Patrick; ask him if he will receive me as His Lord and Savior.”

So I explained to him what I believed the Lord had said to me while we were hugging, and I asked him if he wanted to surrender his life to Jesus Christ. He said yes. After he gave his life to Christ, I prayed for him again, and I remember thanking God so much for wrecking my neck so that I could be a part of this incredible moment. It was then that I became overwhelmed by what was trans­piring before me. I got to watch this man go from death to life in a matter of seconds.

As I was leaving his office, I looked back at him to say goodbye one last time, and I will never forget the smile he had on his face as he was saying to himself, “I am a new creation.” Truly the power of the Lord is present today to forgive men of their sin. So believer, remember, it’s not always about you; maybe the thing you are going through right now is about someone else. So be ready, because divine appointments abound as today is the day of salvation, and the power of the Lord is present to forgive.