Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice.” Many years ago, Susan and I were at her parents’ house for the weekend and attended Sunday school at the church where she grew up. The topic centered on God communicating with man. The strange thing was that I had already heard the lesson. I leaned over to Susan and whispered, ‘I dreamed of this very class last night… same subject and everything.’ An old friend sitting behind us commented, ‘The word is going around there are some people in Atlanta saying they hear God speaking to them.”
I took a deep breath and slipped my hand up in the air. “Most of you know Susan and I live in Atlanta, so I’ll just comment that I think God communicates with us in many different ways. I don’t often remember my dreams, but last night I dreamed of this very Sunday school class.” A good friend of Susan’s, sitting in front of us proclaimed, “He did! I just heard him whisper to Susan…” Everyone seemed to be getting a little uncomfortable, and I felt sorry for the teacher, but we were all rescued by the bell and class was dismissed. Departing the classroom, several people gathered around, not to tell me I was a heretic, but to share similar stories they had experienced. One said, “I just have never shared my story, because it sounds so crazy.”
Last week I wrote that in January I heard God say, ‘I want you to go back to Spain.’ I am not clever enough to ask for signs like Gideon did, but I did pray God would give me and Susan unity. She was all in. I got in touch with our missionary friends and they were eager for us to return. I told them Karlyn had other commitments, so Susan would be my traveling partner.
God then seemed to line up three conversations, two totally unsolicited, to boost my confidence. A brother whose faith is far deeper than mine seemed overjoyed at the thought of another trip to Spain. He said God would make the way and we need not worry. Next, I had an appointment with the leading radiologist in Atlanta who works with multiple myeloma patients. An area in my arm was causing a bit of pain and my doctor felt thirty days of radiation would help. The radiologist’s name was Mohammed and I liked him at once. He showed me my recent PET Scan compared to other scans of patients. The spot on my arm was not nearly as bright as the other scans. Also, I was not in a lot of pain, so we decided to just keep an eye on it.
Before leaving, the doctor told of his travels to lecture all over the world about the effectiveness of radiation. We discovered we had both been to Israel lately and I said, “I guess my traveling days are coming to an end.” “Why’s that?” the doctor asked. “Well, I have to get platelets twice a week.” “So? Where do you want to go?” When I told him I wanted to go to Barcelona, he said, “That’s a modern city. They do the same things we do in the States. If you are in need, just go to a hospital and ask for platelets. No worries.” “Really? You want to come with me? You can lecture about your profession and I’ll tell people about Jesus!”
Less than two weeks later, one of my favorite nurses at Emory was taking care of me and I told him about the trip. The nurses are always quite busy, but Daniel found the time to pull up a chair and listen to our plans. He was so excited. He encouraged me to pray about it and then live in such a way as to have no regrets. We must have talked twenty minutes. When I got home, I told Susan to buy the tickets. So in March, before the airline tickets increased because of fuel prices, she purchased tickets to depart July 5 and return July 12 for $1000 per ticket.
My doctor always seems intrigued with my trips. His Nurse Practitioner, a dear friend, is more like my mom… she worries about me. “You know, Mr. Davis, flying with low platelets brings its own set of dangers.” But she did not discourage me. My parents support me too… and pray a lot. As we entered April, I had met with my doctors and told my parents. We were committed.
This is where we’ll pick up next week: God seemed to have confirmed His will through other people; Susan and I were in agreement; I was feeling pretty good as we entered the last month of school. Only God knew what was ahead.
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My loving eye on you.” Psalm 32:8