Sometimes we don’t understand why the Lord allows things to happen to us, but if we remember to consecrate our day to Him from the very moment we get up, He will take it as an opportunity to to draw others to Christ through us. He will use this to show us Kingdom secrets so that our faith can be increased. One thing is sure; we had better be prepared to at times go through whatever He has in mind!

That is exactly what happened to me. I had been praying for God to use me to reach out to the lost. I won’t bore you with the details of how I ended up in the hospital, I’m sure you’ll understand when I say “It wasn’t fun”. The emergency room was so cold the nurses kept bringing me warm blankets to keep me from shivering. Finally two of them came to me with great big smiles and announced they finally got me a room upstairs.

“We’d better take you up now before someone else takes it on you,” they said.

The thought crossed my mind that perhaps they were so happy to escort me out of the emergency room because they were just tired of trying to keep me warm!

The moment the nurses wheeled me into my “new home” I knew I wasn’t going to be happy there, either! There was a terrible smell in the air, and it was just about more than I could take. I said a small prayer for grace, and then it immediately came to my mind that the room was much warmer. “OK Lord, thanks!” I said. “But you will also need to give me the grace to stand this smell!” Suddenly, I remembered the raspberry-scented hand cream I had stuck in my coat pocket before I left home. I pulled it out and put it where I could “sniff” it whenever necessary! To my surprise, there was a Bible in the night table drawer — an easy to read New Testament with Psalms in large fonts. It even had a page leading you to scriptures for specific problems!

Then I met Tilly, my roommate. She was a sweet little lady in her seventies. It was evident that she and her husband of many years have been happily married and enjoyed life. They refuse to be the retired old fogies and took every opportunity to live life to the fullest. So it was that during one of their cha-cha dancing lines at their community dance, Tilly fell and broke her hip.

Her surgery hadn’t been enough to bring her spirits down, but the medication she had to take for her heart and iron deficiency were giving her the worst stomach cramps imaginable, and it was those same stomach cramps that kept both of us awake most of the night!

It seemed to me that Tilly was delirious. Every once in a while she would ask, “Is that your your son?” At other times she thought that there were children coming and going in the room. Since there wasn’t anyone around, I decided that she must be hearing some of the voices outside the room. Nevertheless, it made me feel a bit uncomfortable so I decided to pray for our protection. Then the Lord encouraged me to pray for the protection of the entire hospital!

Just after midnight, when I had finally started to doze off, I heard my roommate laugh out loud.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

Her answer really woke me up with a start.

“Well, I am in a lot of pain, and I can’t sleep, but I sure am enjoying the motorcycle show up in the air!” She said.

“What show?” I asked. | got up to look out the window, but there was nothing but a parking lot half filled with parked cars and an ambulance that was coming in. Uh-uh, I thought; Jesus, what did you get me into?

“There’s no air show; that’s just the ambulance’s flashing lights,” I said, trying to reassure her. Then I closed the blinds to keep the light from bothering her, and after hearing her murmured “Thank you,” we both renewed our efforts to get some sleep.

Not only did the medication Tilly was taking cause severe abdominal cramps, but it also caused the need for the nursing staff to come in and change Tilly about once an hour. The 4th time the nurses were called in, Tilly began going on and on about the “motorcycle show” again. But when I looked to the window, the blinds I had closed earlier were still closed.

The nursed looked at me as if to say, “she’s not dealing with a full deck”, then turned to Tillie and said, “Tillie, you haven’t been sleeping well the last few nights. I think you are suffering from sleep deprivation. What you are seeing is not real. You are just imagining it. Try to get some rest, sweetie”

But Tilly needed to continue her story. “The leader was wearing a black robe with gold trimmings around its edge,” she insisted. “There are cars with beautiful lights that weave in and out in front of this creature. What beautiful lights! I am really enjoying them!” Then she paused, and almost hesitatingly she admitted, “But I’m not sure this is a good thing!”

I sensed spiritual warfare going on against the hospital, and the words of the Apostle Paul came to mind: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph. 6:12).

I then recalled that he says in 2 Corinthians 10:1-6 that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong hold; casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

“Lord,” I prayed, “You know the only power I have over this demonic power Tilly is talking about is to use Your Word to pull down the strong holds that are trying to come in to rob, kill and destroy the many souls in this place. Father, Revelations 12:11 says ‘And they overcame him (Satan), by the Blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony,’ I testify the Word of God and remind Satan he has been defeated!”

Morning came, and the doctor told me that I would be released when the lung specialist had had a chance to see the result of my X- rays. But something went wrong, and some miscommunication between the doctors forced me to stay until the nurses got in touch with my doctor, who, naturally, wasn’t available. I was upset, to say the least! But a still, small voice that I recognized as the Lord’s said, “I sent you here to tell Tilly about Me. Why haven’t you done it?”

Now, normally I would have no trouble including the Lord in my conversations, but that morning my mind was totally blank. I prayed, but the words in my heart wouldn’t come out my mouth. Later, as I was speaking on the phone with my pastor, a lady who didn’t look like hospital staff came in the room and went to chat with my roommate. I heard what sounded like Tilly repeating a prayer: “I am not worthy Oh Lord . . .” It sounded like the lady was giving her Communion.

After I hung up the phone, I felt the Lord say, “You need to tell her about Me soon, Nancy, and you need to tell her that the air show she sees is not of Me, but if she accepts My gift of Salvation, she will not have to fear, for she will have the power of My Blood.”

Someone once said, “The work of the ministry is a spiritual warfare with spiritual enemies, and for spiritual purposes. And the preaching of the cross, by men of faith and prayer, has always been fatal to idolatry, impiety, and wickedness”. How true that is! I had my work cut out for me, and since I my friend’s salvation depended on my obedience, I had to do it right! “How do I do this Lord,” I whispered. “Show me! Give me the words and the opportunity so that she may accept You. Lord, You know I’m leaving soon!”

The answer was so quick and painless that I later wondered why had I been so concerned. Tilly and I started talking about Communion, about confession of sin, and about the need of a Savior. I told her she was right when she said she was not worthy of forgiveness, but in His Mercy, God made a way to pour out his love on us, and give us the power to overcome the enemy through the Power of the Blood of Jesus. I asked her if she had ever accepted Christ in her heart, and when she said “no”, I began telling her about God’s plan of Salvation.

It was at this point that she stopped me: “Dear, how do I ask Him to come in and forgive me?”

Wow!!! This lady was desperate and didn’t want to live one more minute without Jesus! This was awesome. My God had heard my prayer to make me an instrument of His Love so that I may be used to increase His Kingdom!

Tilly said the sinners prayer and I prayed for peace to fill her. I gave her the Bible I had found in the night table drawer, and she talked to me a little longer, but she was so hungry for the Word, it was difficult for her to put it down.

Isn’t God awesome? When we yield our spirits to Him, He puts us right where He needs us to be. Then He gives us the wisdom to deal with whatever situation arises, gives us the words to say, and provides the opportunity to say them!

But I learned an even bigger lesson that day. Tilly’s insistence upon seeing the “motorcycle show” over the hospital emergency room, made me realized that Satan and his demons were hard at work right there in that hospital. People who don’t know Christ could come in and die and be condemned forever! Unfortunately, many of us, like Tilly, see it all as just a beautiful show in the air — a sinful life that is fun for a little while, but never quite reveals to us the depth of the death that is behind it.

As Christians we are very complacent. We pray, but we don’t listen for God’s responses. We read the Bible, but we only accept the Words that appeal to us. The way we live our lives often renders us blind to the spiritual warfare going on around us. We need to speak out to the North, to the South, to the East and to the West in the Name of Jesus and command the enemy forces to release the God’s people!

God bless you all!

“I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope” (Psalm 16:8-9)

In Christ, Nancy Reindl