We are seeing the glimpses – the hints – of revival here at CVC. A few weeks ago, we held a night of prayer here. And at one point during the evening, I made my way across the room to pray with our children’s minister, Denise Petek, and someone I didn’t know. Her name? Evelyn.
Her story is a story of God bringing life into her dryness.
She told me, “I have been very bitter and angry toward God for a very long time.” Why? She has 3 children, 2 daughters and a son, Gabriel, who was diagnosed at about two months old with a terminal illness, cystic fibrosis. As you can imagine, they have experienced many hospitalizations, tests, Dr. visits, procedures. Gabriel is on more than twenty different medications daily and has a feeding tube and a medport for IV meds.
Evelyn says, “I always wondered how God could be so cruel. Why my son? Watching him suffer and my daughters hurt is something that hardened my heart for a very long time.”
One day Gabe asked, “When I die will I be allowed to go into heaven or will they make me wait because I won’t be old enough? That question broke Evelyn’s heart because Gabriel had realized he will die younger than most. And Evelyn said, “I have done [my son] a great disservice that he has to wonder about his acceptance to heaven.”
So, she knew she had to do something to find answers to these questions Gabe had. She was looking for a church where she could educate herself and her family. She wanted a church that would welcome them with open arms. Her boyfriend’s aunt attends CVC. So, she recommended our church to Evelyn.
Their experience here? They were welcomed and befriended. When Gabe was in the hospital, members of our staff visited. Evelyn began attending services regularly and began reading her Bible. And she says, “Something in me changed.”
She has experienced the grace of God. She met Jesus. Listen to her words: “Despite the hurt I feel because of my son’s illness [and] despite the worry I have [about our finances] I have an amazing sense of peace inside. My heart is no longer hardened, bitter, or angry towards God. It is exactly the opposite. My heart is open. It is warm and it is filled with God’s love and grace.”
In February, Evelyn was sitting at her computer desk. She had questions running thru her mind: “What is going to happen to my son? How do I explain things to my daughters? How will I pay the bills?” That’s when she heard God’s voice. “It’s going to be okay. Everything will be okay.”
Now she says, “I am so happy to be at CVC. I am looking forward to getting baptized. I am eager to bring my children on this journey of discovery with me.”
Evelyn is a dream come true. When I was 33 in 1986, I claimed the promises of God. And on promise on the list was from Isaiah 41:17…
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. Isaiah 41:17 (ESV)
I asked the Lord then to use us as a church to help the poor and needy find their thirst quenched here at CVC. That’s why I say that Evelyn is an answer to prayer. She is the fulfillment of promises claimed in prayer by the people of God here at CVC. She was dead toward God and bitter toward God. But now? She’s alive to God.
What God is doing in ones and twos and threes and fours we want to see Him do in 10s and 100s and 1000s.
Will you dare to dream and claim the promises of God. More Evelyns are out there are hurting and waiting on you to dream and claim the promises of God for them. Will you do it?
Her story is a story of God bringing life into her dryness.
She told me, “I have been very bitter and angry toward God for a very long time.” Why? She has 3 children, 2 daughters and a son, Gabriel, who was diagnosed at about two months old with a terminal illness, cystic fibrosis. As you can imagine, they have experienced many hospitalizations, tests, Dr. visits, procedures. Gabriel is on more than twenty different medications daily and has a feeding tube and a medport for IV meds.
Evelyn says, “I always wondered how God could be so cruel. Why my son? Watching him suffer and my daughters hurt is something that hardened my heart for a very long time.”
One day Gabe asked, “When I die will I be allowed to go into heaven or will they make me wait because I won’t be old enough? That question broke Evelyn’s heart because Gabriel had realized he will die younger than most. And Evelyn said, “I have done [my son] a great disservice that he has to wonder about his acceptance to heaven.”
So, she knew she had to do something to find answers to these questions Gabe had. She was looking for a church where she could educate herself and her family. She wanted a church that would welcome them with open arms. Her boyfriend’s aunt attends CVC. So, she recommended our church to Evelyn.
Their experience here? They were welcomed and befriended. When Gabe was in the hospital, members of our staff visited. Evelyn began attending services regularly and began reading her Bible. And she says, “Something in me changed.”
She has experienced the grace of God. She met Jesus. Listen to her words: “Despite the hurt I feel because of my son’s illness [and] despite the worry I have [about our finances] I have an amazing sense of peace inside. My heart is no longer hardened, bitter, or angry towards God. It is exactly the opposite. My heart is open. It is warm and it is filled with God’s love and grace.”
In February, Evelyn was sitting at her computer desk. She had questions running thru her mind: “What is going to happen to my son? How do I explain things to my daughters? How will I pay the bills?” That’s when she heard God’s voice. “It’s going to be okay. Everything will be okay.”
Now she says, “I am so happy to be at CVC. I am looking forward to getting baptized. I am eager to bring my children on this journey of discovery with me.”
Evelyn is a dream come true. When I was 33 in 1986, I claimed the promises of God. And on promise on the list was from Isaiah 41:17…
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. Isaiah 41:17 (ESV)
I asked the Lord then to use us as a church to help the poor and needy find their thirst quenched here at CVC. That’s why I say that Evelyn is an answer to prayer. She is the fulfillment of promises claimed in prayer by the people of God here at CVC. She was dead toward God and bitter toward God. But now? She’s alive to God.
What God is doing in ones and twos and threes and fours we want to see Him do in 10s and 100s and 1000s.
Will you dare to dream and claim the promises of God. More Evelyns are out there are hurting and waiting on you to dream and claim the promises of God for them. Will you do it?
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