Angels of Humility: A Novel (39 page)

With the Holy Spirit convicting her, she was able to let go of the last vestiges of her pride, resentment, and feelings that she was entitled to a better life than this.
If the apostle Paul suffered like that, and Jesus left the perfection of Heaven to suffer here for my salvation, why do I think I should be exempt? The servant is not better than the master.
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When it came time to be spoonfed at the table, she would think of Paul going hungry.
He would think I live in the lap of luxury
, thought Sarah, and she no longer resented wearing a bib and being fed like a toddler.

She was even able to be gracious to the aides who bathed and toileted her, no matter how humiliating it was. As the warm bath water washed over her and the aide scrubbed her sagging, wrinkled body, she was able to release her humiliation by closing her eyes and thinking of Paul, bobbing in the cold, dark sea for a whole night and day.
Yes, compared to Paul, my life is fine. S
he began to reframe her thinking. Instead of feeling resentment because of her helplessness she thought,
Every one of my needs is met, and I even have helpers to assist me
.

Joel and Malta were there to constantly remind her that short-term sacrifices would reap long-term rewards. “Only one life, t’will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”
⁷

The staff was drawn to Sarah’s kind words and cheerful attitude—a rarity there among the patients. They welcomed the prophetic words she spoke over their lives, and the more she used this gifting the more it increased.

When Sarah’s arms became too weak to propel her wheelchair, she received an electric one. It was like getting a new lease on life. Each day Sarah cruised up and down the halls with ease, looking into rooms for patients who were alone and discouraged. Most days she was able to lead someone into a relationship with the Lord. She also started an informal Bible study five days a week, right after lunch, to disciple her new converts.

Discouragement, Abandonment, Depression, and other demons were fighting to hold their ground with the new believers, but with Sarah’s prayers and spiritual warfare these spirits had a hard job.

Sarah was more convinced than ever that her prayers could have an effect since she’d read in her devotional guide about a Chinese pastor who was paralyzed from a stroke. When asked if he was discouraged because he could no longer do much for God’s Kingdom he replied, “When I pray from this bed, all of China shakes.”
⁸

“That’s right,” said Joel, “Don’t underestimate the power of your prayers, especially for those who will die in the next 24 hours. Remember how the Lord saved George at the last minute? You can do that for others.”

“The shining sun and the falling rain are given both to those who love God and to those who reject God; the compassion of the Son embraces those who are still living in sin. The Pharisee lurking within many believers shuns sinners. Jesus turns toward them with gracious kindness. He sustains His attention throughout their lives for the sake of their conversion, which is always possible to the very last moment,”
⁹
said Malta.

She would frequently request, “Lord, I pray that I would always pray.” Unbeknownst to Sarah, her prayers were the catalyst for one of the lay leaders at the Christian church to begin arranging a regular visitation program for the Manor. Twelve members would eventually sign up and commit to visiting the Manor once a week to pray with and witness to the patients and staff. This would ensure that a Christian witness would be in place when Sarah was gone.

With more grace given to her, Sarah’s prayers, for those inside and outside the Manor, were more consistent and powerful. She prayed for all the staff and patients in the Manor, in addition to prayer walking the four blocks in her mind and praying for the inmates, Victory Church, numerous missionaries, various countries, and those who were going to die in the next 24 hours.

News of Paul’s death had hit her hard, but she drew great comfort from the Lord that Paul was with Him. Kathy and Jordan had visited her shortly after his death, and Sarah continued to pray fervently for them.

Kathy was doing as well as could be expected. Many of the women from the church had gathered to support her. The church even offered to let her stay at the parsonage rent-free for several months, but she chose to move back to her hometown to be close to her family and friends. Jordan thrived on spending time with his grandparents, “Papaw” and “Nana,” and his many cousins. Kathy was back at her home church, had reconnected with many old friends, and the crisis was causing her to press in to find deeper intimacy with the Lord and His new direction for her life. He was pouring His grace on her liberally.

The search committee at Bradbury Victory Church had just extended a call to pastor Alan Koch and his family, who had been God’s first choice to pastor this church when Paul’s interim term was up.

Barbara, helped along by Sarah’s prayers, fearlessly, and without excessive perspiration, visited the jail at least twice a week. She ferried messages back and forth from Sarah to the inmates. The director had asked Barbara to consider co-leading a Bible study once a week with one of the men from Victory Church who had volunteered to help out. This was their second week, and 17 inmates had attended. The prisoners decided to name their group “Hug a Thug” because they felt so cared for.

Sarah prayed during most of the day and many times during the night. She dozed fitfully, her body’s pains not quite letting her reach a restful sleep. On those nights, from her bed in the darkened room in the Manor, the last place on earth she wanted to be, she listened to the continual worship music and watched or laid her hand gently on the rotating globe. Many nights she received visions from the Spirit, pictures flashed through her mind of isolated native villages, modern cities, starving children, or a soldier alone and dying on the battlefield. She prayed for those impressions as she drifted in and out of sleep.

During the dark, still hours when she was wide awake, she also cried out for salvation for people around the world who were going to die in the next 24 hours. She called it her “thief on the cross” prayers because the one thief
crucified next to Jesus had been saved just before he died.
²
She was especially motivated to pray these prayers because George had been saved on his deathbed and she was full of gratitude.

“Jesus, I pray for those who are going to die, that You would let them see Your beauty. Let them see You in Your pure love, longing for them to spend eternity with You. I rebuke demonic influence that would lead them astray. Lord, strip away deception that would cloud their minds and confuse them. Let Your truth be known in their hearts and minds. Jesus, in Your great mercy snatch them from the enemy’s grasp even up to their last breath.”

The Holy Spirit was busy answering Sarah’s prayers all around the world. Avner, a young rabbinical student in Israel, had been meditating on the messianic prophecies as he did his homework that evening.

When he went to bed, Avner dreamed he was in the crowd at the temple the day Jesus unrolled the scroll and read Isaiah 61:1–2:
³

The Lord God has put his Spirit in me, because the Lord has appointed me to tell the good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort those whose hearts are broken, to tell the captives they are free, and to tell the prisoners they are released. He has sent me to announce the time when the Lord will show his kindness and the time when our God will punish evil people. He has sent me to comfort all those who are sad.
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The crowd was murmuring, “Isn’t this Jesus, the carpenter’s son?” As Avner listened, he knew that he was hearing the truth. He didn’t know how he knew, but even as he actively tried to resist, he knew in his heart that what he heard was real and true. He awoke immediately and Jesus in all His splendor and loving kindness was sitting on the side of his bed. He looked straight into Avner’s eyes and said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing, Avner.” Then He was gone.

The next morning Avner boarded the city bus. Three stops later, a suicide bomber reached under his coat and detonated the dynamite strapped to his body.

In Pattaya, Thailand, a young woman was dying alone in the back alley. She had contracted AIDS from working in the sex trade. Her immune
system was devastated. For several weeks she had fought a dry cough. When she grew too sick to work, she was discarded. She lay in an alley shivering in the night air, her face flushed, overcome by a very high fever. Most of her hair had fallen out and red patches covered her face. She felt she was suffocating; each breath was more challenging than the one before.

In response to Sarah’s prayers, an angel appeared. Although she was unaware of its presence, she suddenly remembered the time, as a little girl, when she went to a meeting and a missionary told of a man named Jesus who loved her. He promised Jesus would respond to those in need who called His name. When she went home that night and told her mother, she was severely beaten and told to never return to that place. With one last effort, she drew in a breath and as it left her body she weakly whispered, “Je—sus.” The next second, her spirit was gently cradled in the angel’s arms and released from the bonds of earth.

In Haiti, outside a shack with battered wooden walls and a tin roof, an elderly woman lay on a cot moaning. Several Haitians were chanting over her, and she was surrounded by sacred objects: candles, incense, swords, knives, needles, nails, goblets, mirrors, amulets, and masks meant to keep away harmful forces. Women were casting spells for protection and others were holding her head up to help her sip a potion.

The Haitians watched the sky for falling stars that evening. In their folklore, when a star falls someone will die. A star did fall that night and Edwidge did die, but not before an angel was commissioned to drive back the spirits of Voodoo and issue her a clear invitation to trust Jesus to forgive her sins and dwell with Him for all eternity.