Faith

---

Faith Re-Born
© 2007

by

Stephen A. Peterson


For ten consecutive days everything seemed to be going wrong for 20 year old Lisa Riley. So much so that even her faith was slipping away, it would seem, each and every day. Early on a rainy July morning, Lisa prayed: “Lord, You seem so remote and distant to me. Please, Lord, I humbly pray that You do something to build my faith in You. I am so weak right now and I need Your help.”

At 3 o’clock that afternoon while preparing to shop for new clothing for the Fall semester, the telephone rang. A woman’s voice said: “You don’t know me but we both go to college at the University of Central Oklahoma. But a friend of mine told me that you’re a Christian and a really nice person. For three days a voice or something seems to be telling me to call you to tell you about a problem I have.”

Without pausing, she said, “My little sister was in a car accident four days ago. The accident caused some really serious head injuries. Now the doctors are telling me and my parents that she will probably not make it. They are telling us to just let her go. But I really believe the voice that is talking to me is that of God Himself. That voice told me that my sister could live if only someone outside my family would believe, pray and not give up. I thought of you through my friend. Could you come to Edmond Memorial Hospital and pray with us, please?”

Making her way to the hospital, Lisa found the once unknown student. With clasped hands, she and the other student’s family members prayed aloud for well-being of their loved one. Then Lisa stepped forward and said, “Caroline, if you can hear me, move one of your fingers.”

Very slowly and with a great deal of difficulty, the teenage girl moved her first right finger. The family, nurses and Lisa went wild. At that moment, Lisa’s faith soared. Lisa knew Caroline would, from that moment, be okay. In sixteen days following their prayers, Caroline was dismissed with no brain damage. A small surgical scar was the only evidence that she had been in a car accident.

On the day of her dismissal from the hospital, Lisa was asked by her new friend: “Lisa does all of this mean anything to you? On the day my sister came back to us, I saw a brightness in your face like I have never seen in any other person.”

“Yes,” Lisa replied aware of the spark of faith that had ignited in her person. “This whole event for me was given me to build my weaken faith. Like your sister, who was given her life back, I was given my eternal life back. Like your sister’s movement of just one finger, my heart was moved to understand that there is a God. That something even as slight as a finger movement and the call of a stranger can be so meaningful. I can’t thank you enough for calling me, Deb. Your call saved my life—eternal life. I’m eternally grateful!”

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE