Miracle

The Interrogator

She just kept asking questions. Even as I tried to answer one, she would pepper me with another. One, after the other, on and on it went. I leaned into every question she brought, but I would barely get started, and she would ask another. To be honest, it was pretty frustrating. The other women may have been both a little annoyed and, perhaps, a little entertained by the rapid fire being shot at me and my futile attempts to respond. I was pretty sure I was losing this little war.

Even as I attempted to respond to her latest inquiry, I heard her saying, “I always quit coming to these things,” meaning Bible studies offered at the jail. “Every time, they tell me I have to just believe in Jesus. Well, I believe in my native religion, too. I suppose you’re going to tell me the same thing.”

Again, there it was. A split second to decide how best to stand for truth, without losing her. But truth always wins, so I fired up my own cannons.

“I do believe Jesus is the only way. The Bible tells us he is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no way to the Father but through him.” But I didn’t stop there. I went on to talk about the tower of Babel. How I believed that even as God confused the languages, the various people groups that went out from the plain of Shinar would eventually form the basis for all the world religions. That while there was one true God, people would slide from that truth—adding to and taking away from the truths we read in the Bible, choosing their own gods to follow. How you could see some basic tenets that were the same in many of the religions—don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t murder—but that when it came to the characteristics of their god, it wasn’t the same deity. It was like the telephone game. By the time the story gets all the way around the circle, there is a core of truth to the story, but the details have all been changed.

I told her that it made me love people who don’t believe as I do even more. So many are truly seeking after God, they have just been led ever so slightly off-center and end up missing the mark. How, often, you will hear something in one of the other religions that echoes the truths of Scripture. What they are missing is the end of the story. Christianity is the only religion that teaches we can never be good enough on our own. Every other religion is based on works—we must earn our way to heaven. But God knew we could never make it. We would need grace. And the gift of his son, Jesus, was his answer to that profound truth. He made a way—the way—and that way is Jesus.

I was surprised at how much time I was given for that response. She actually seemed to be listening rather than formulating her next question. But soon her rapid fire resumed, and as we parted, I couldn’t help but feel that may be the last I would see of her.

The Heckler

The following Monday, I went into the behavioral health center for spirituality group with the adolescents. A young man sat over by the window, chair tipped on its back legs, arms crossed. He had a black eye and a bandage across his cheek. I didn’t know the cause, but if I had to guess, he had probably been in a fight. He sure seemed to want to pick one with me.

He had a snide comment for almost everything I said and, at one point, he pointed to the Bible that was always on the table next to me. “So, what’s your favorite fairy tale in that book?” The other kids snickered. I felt like I was losing any credibility I may have had. Close on the heels of the warfare at the jail the week before, my confidence was failing. I don’t even remember my responses . . . I just remember my deflated spirit. It felt like I was losing this war, too.

It was only a couple days later that I was due back in the jail for the Wednesday Bible study. I couldn’t help but wonder if I would face the interrogator again. Part of me thought it might be easier if she didn’t join us! But most of me prayed she might return. Maybe a little seed had been planted. Maybe . . . but as they filed out and the slider clanged noisily shut, she wasn’t among them. I felt defeated. Before we even went into the Bible study, I felt as if I were losing this war. A war I didn’t even always realize I was fighting.

The Blue Billboard Battleground

As I left the jail and drove down a busy street, my eyes were caught—as so often in the past—by the blue billboards that peppered our city. A wealthy man with an agenda had purchased time on billboards up and down the main arteries of my hometown. An atheist spewing anti-God messaging on blue billboards, using science to disparage his name. They had actually been part of why I had left my job in research. Someone had to counter this message! But today, the blue billboards not only stood out to me but seemed to be laughing at me. I could literally feel the evil one’s presence, and he was mocking me: Who are you to think that you could help anyone? You are no good at this. Why do you even try? You thought you could make a difference? You can’t. You should just quit. I drove down that busy street with tears sliding down my cheeks. There was another voice, struggling to be heard over the din. It was whispering: You aren’t the first to suffer in my name. I warned you this would be hard. People have been hated and even martyred for trying to bring the good news since the very beginning! Did you think it would be different for you? I knew I should be listening to the second voice. But it felt like I was losing the battle.

Miracle at Walmart

I continued to make my way across town to pick up the bouquet of balloons and a gift for the baby shower I needed to be getting to. No time for a meltdown just now. I made my purchases and was making my way out of the store when she caught my eye. Two women entered together, both wearing sunglasses. There’s really no way I should have recognized her, but I had a laser-like focus on this woman walking into Walmart. She saw me too. Pulling off her glasses, she made her way over and gave me the biggest hug! It was the interrogator from the jail.

“Hi!” she exclaimed. “It’s so good to see you! You know, no one has ever talked to me about God or the Bible the way you did. I do believe that Jesus is the only way! After you left, I f*#@ing prayed!” A panicked look crossed her face as she quickly began to apologize for her profanity in front of the church lady. “But seriously, I just prayed and prayed…and I got out!” So, that was why she hadn’t made it back to the Bible study earlier that afternoon. She was out—and praising the Lord! Praise the Lord!

As we parted ways, I searched my brain for her name. I always tried so hard to remember their names. There is something so personal about being called by your name. And, lo and behold, even though we had only met the one time, her name floated to the top of my jumbled memory. Miracle. Her name was Miracle! And I felt like I had just seen one.

As if that God-sighting weren’t enough, my phone rang as I pulled away from the store. It was the director of the prayer center. She had just wanted to call to tell me that she had heard about my heckler at the Monday adolescent group at the behavioral health center and what a tough session it had been. She thought I might want to know that same young man had chosen to attend chapel that afternoon, and he had even gone back for prayer with one of the prayer warriors! So, even as he had sat with arms crossed defiantly and hurled insults and jeers, my words seemed to have somehow penetrated his tough facade—my words or Christ’s love? Maybe, hopefully, one and the same. But once again, praise the Lord!

The Invisible Battle

The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:12 that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” My battle was not with the interrogator or the heckler. It was against the evil one—and it was real. But the Bible also tells us that he who lives in me is greater than the one who lives in the world, and we have been given the authority to overcome all the powers of the enemy. Heady thoughts, maybe even a little scary or intimidating. But thoughts that were becoming truths for me.

This is a battle we don’t see. At least not in the sense that we might see gunfire and bombings on a battlefield. But if we are alert and watchful, we will see the battle. And we will see that we are not alone. You see, I may have never crossed paths with the interrogator or heard about the heckler because I was supposed to already be at that baby shower. While I thought it started at 6:30, it actually started at 6. So, I was a half-hour late—with the table decorations—but, in God’s timing, I was right on time. Apparently, I had a more important meeting at the entrance to Walmart, and there was a call I had needed to take. So, I could rest assured that I was not in this battle alone. He is not a God of chance. He is a God of miracles!

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the

truth and the life. No one comes to the

Father except through me.’”

John 14:6 NIV

“God did this so that they would seek

him and perhaps reach out for

him and find him, though he

is not far from any one of us.”

Acts 17:27 NIV

“For it is by grace you have been

saved, through faith—and this

is not from yourselves, it is the

gift of God—not by works,

so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:8–9 NIV

“For our struggle is not against flesh

and blood, but against the rulers,

against the authorities, against the

powers of this dark world and

against the spiritual forces

of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Ephesians 6:12 NIV

“You, dear children, are from God and

have overcome them, because

the one who is in you is greater

than the one who is in the world.”

1 John 4:4 NIV

“He performs wonders that cannot

be fathomed, miracles

that cannot be counted.”

Job 5:9 NIV