He Gets Angry And He Kicks ’em Out!

I knocked on the door of a family home in a middle-class suburb in Melbourne.  An elderly lady answered, I introduced myself and explained to her that I was from the local church and that the reason for my call was to offer prayer for any needs she or the family might have. 

The lady, Mrs Wells, was very surprised at my visit and she immediately told of their forty-one year-old son who was dying of cancer and was suffering increasing blindness.  She went on to say that they had lost another son with cancer a couple of years earlier and that this time she’d often thought of taking her son to a faith healer, adding, “We’re so desperate, we’ll try anything.”

She then said, “I’d like to invite you in, but my husband is an ex-Catholic and anti-religious. He gets angry and kicks ’em out!”  I asked her to let me in anyway,  because we needed to talk further.  I then explained to her that all true healing is done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ – not in the name of any “faith healer.” So I was invited in and sat down and she made me a cup of coffee. In the next room the TV was on, broadcasting horse races and I could hear her husband coughing loudly. Moments later the door opened and the eighty-six year old husband came out.  At that point Mrs Wells showed some apprehension.

Mr Wells was a tall man and even though he was old, it looked to me that he still had the strength to “kick ’em out.” He said, “G’day,” in a gruff voice and I smiled, responded and got up and shook his hand.  He then said, “What brings you here today?”  I said, “Mr Wells, I am a messenger of Jesus Christ, and He sent me here today.”  He began to laugh in a good-natured manner, but said, “Well, I’m too old at eighty-six to be worrying about religious matters.”  I responded, “Mr Wells, in God’s eyes you’re still only a baby and secondly, I’m not here to talk about “religious” matters, Jesus Christ hates those more than you do and I hate them as much as you do.”

I noticed that response immediately relaxed him. I continued, saying that I was only interested in sharing the reality of Jesus Christ with them both, and that I believed he was experiencing a little bit of that right now in the form of His peace.  He did not confirm or deny that. But he continued to ask more questions  and told me to call him Larry.  I learned very quickly here, just how much God honors the uniqueness of each person and I thought how different this is, compared with religious man and his religious concepts, traditions, laws, rules etc., with which he works so hard at preserving and enslaving on others.

“Where is this Jesus?” Larry asked.  Knowing that he had a Roman Catholic background there was no need for explanation about the Virgin birth, but I wanted to add to his limited knowledge as to why He came to earth,  so I simply said that the Bible tells us Jesus Christ resides in a dimension called heaven, but, that He sent us His Holy Spirit to dwell on the earth and, “He’s here in this room now.”

With this uniqueness in mind, I was now being used of the Lord to bring further explanations to his questions – explanations to the reality of Christ.  I did so by using the everyday things in their home which would make sense for them – a couple of pictures on the wall, crockery and cups on the table, the race horses on the TV and some builders tools (he was a retired builder).  All of what I was given to say was for the benefit of those two people alone.  Words were not given for my understanding, or for the church or other Christians to judge and assess.

No words were given to put guilt trips on them or to get them to come to church.  It was Jesus Christ revealing Himself to these dear people where they were at, telling them that they could know God through Him and as a result, they were greatly moved.  By the expressions on both faces, I knew that they’d never had the gospel presented to them in such an everyday, non-religious manner.

Larry was a big drinker in former days.  I told him I was once the same.  He didn’t believe me. So I told him a little of my own background and both he and Mrs Wells were astonished.  Because I represent the Lord Jesus Christ, they had this concept that I must be some holy, pure paragon.  Again I thought, how sad it is that so many church people work so very hard at being something they are not, never have been and never will be – yet others think they are!  What a deception! 

This is one solid reason why unbelieving people don’t see the reality and power of Jesus Christ in their world around them. They don’t see it because too many of His people are not real. They hide behind masks, they cover themselves with religious garb, practice and speech and the very people that God is trying to reach think that’s what God Himself is like and they want nothing to do with Him.  That’s how I thought of God for many years until I experienced my own reality and power of Jesus Christ.

Both Larry and Mrs Wells went on to say that many in the family had sickness, including liver problems through booze, cancers, asthma, agoraphobia, spinal problems.  Even the grand children had sicknesses – “bad ones.”  They thought all this must have come upon them as some kind of punishment and, as a result,  fear, confusion, hopelessness and helplessness seemed to rule and reign in that home.  I also asked them to give consideration that if it’s true there is a God and this God has revealed Himself to us in Jesus Christ, then it’s also true that there is a devil and Jesus has told us so.   Further saying, that if that’s not true then Jesus Christ is a liar.

I gave them assurance that the Bible tells us that God is a God of love and that these sicknesses were not punishments from Him.  I explained that this was the works of the devil whom Jesus Christ soundly defeated when He arose from His death.  I mentioned that if it were God punishing them, He would not have sent me to them both today.  I told them God wanted them to know that if they trusted His Son Jesus Christ, and asked forgiveness for their sin, they would receive it, and that God would remove their fears and confusions and they would experience an increasing and continuous presence of His peace within them from hereon in.

After having spent a couple of hours with this couple it was time to go, so I asked them if they would like me to pray for them and the family.  They said yes.  With that, I put one hand on Larry’s head and the other upon his wife and I prayed for the Lord to reveal His reality and power in ways that would leave them in no doubts that God loved them, that He wanted them to know Him and that He was for them – not against them.

 Again, in that prayer I was given words that were specifically for them and their famiy alone and they knew it.  God ministered to them where they were at, not where I or anyone else thought they should be.  As I finished praying I observed small tears coming from Larry’s eyes and a relaxing of tension in Mrs Wells. Both were smiling.

This was not the end of my relationship with this old couple, but I will pick that up in another post.  “It is no secret what God can do, what He’s done for others, He’ll do for you.” (S. Hamblin)  “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28.