by Steve Jeffries

Created on: June 23, 2009   Last Updated: June 25, 2009

"Love's Light..."

It was a Friday like most others. My wife, father-in-law, and I were having dinner at a casual restaurant. Then, without warning, I developed some chest pains. Having had a heart attack a few years ago, I knew what serious pain felt like; it wasn't like what I was now experiencing. Nevertheless, my wife took me to the hospital emergency room to be certain.

After a complete examination, the doctors determinded it was not a second attack. Thank the good Lord! However, because they couldn't find a reason for the persistent pain, a seemingly endless battery of further tests were ordered, clear into the next day. By about dinner hour on Saturday, I was doing much better. Since all the exams were coming back "normal," I was finally discharged.

Over the next four months, my wife would loose her 27 year job, a casuality of the worsening economy. Our 401K lost half of it's value, (whose hadn't)! The severance package promised my wife was taken away as the company filed bankruptcy. Our medical benefits were now unaffordable and had to go. The huge decline in income prompted a mandatory hearing in Superior Court regarding my child support agreements. I was to be admitted to the hospital another two times during all this for anxiety and blood pressure incidents. AND...while my life was falling to staves, I was being blessed!

Many others were as bad off, or even worse. It was generally my custom to pray during difficult times in my life. However, when I went to my Lord regarding all of these current maladies, I felt something was different. For some reason, I recalled the passage in Jas.1:6-7 which reads: "But when he asks, (in prayer), he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord..."

That is when It dawned on me. I realized that while I prayed often enough, many times there was a small amount of skepticism in my mind. That destructive human feeling of pessimism had crept into my prayer life, invalidating my supplications to the Lord. No wonder that even when I felt I prayed from my heart, it seemed my communication with God was somehow weak or lacking...'that man should not think he will receive anything...'

Instantaly, I prayed for more faith in prayer. That was when the Lord began His work. He showed me that not only was FAITH in prayer necessary, but the richness and depth of His love could be had as well! As days went by, many prayers went up to Him. My wife got a job in a related industry, with a huge INCREASE in salary, and her medical benefits were effective in only 15 days! We moved the 401K to a private banking firm and it is improving. The severance that was lost to us was made up in an annuity. The crisis with the child support turned out very well, as I actually had disability income due me which paid more than what I owed each month.

There is no more hesitation in my prayer life, and my faith in the Lord has grown tremendously! Nothing can match the awsome effect on one's life when it is God who is calling... Let His Love light up each one of us!

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