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Look What God Is Doing!

An Angel Named Faye

By Nancy B. Gibbs

“Well, it’s just me and you, God,” I whispered as I lay in the dark hospital room.

Four days earlier, I had what was considered “minor” surgery. I returned home only a couple of hours after having my gall bladder removed. As the next few days passed, however, I suspected something was severely wrong. I couldn’t draw a deep breath. All the aches and pains associated with surgery had subsided, except for a sharp pain in my right side. Instead of getting better, the pain was becoming more intense.

“I’m about to call the doctor,” I informed my husband Roy.

“Go ahead,” he agreed. He was probably tired of hearing my complaints.

After I explained what was going on, the doctor told me to call him the next day if I wasn’t better. The next morning I woke up with chills. I called his office but he wasn’t there. Later that day he called me back. When I explained the chills, he asked me to come right to his office.

Before I knew it, I was having chest x-rays and receiving frightening news. A spot showed up on the x-ray.

“I’m sorry to have to put you through this, Nancy,” the doctor said, “but we have to take care of this tonight. I’m sending you to the hospital.”

Words like blood clots and pneumonia were being whispered all around me. There were release forms to sign and tests to be run. Every face I saw carried a solemn expression. I was as afraid as I was sick.

I placed my life in God’s hands and listened closely to what all the doctors and nurses were saying. A chest scan was performed. I asked questions, but no one seemed to have definitive answers.

“Do you understand how sick you are?” a nurse asked. I guess I didn’t, but I took her word for it and prayed harder. After a great deal of company the next day and phone calls from dozens of friends, I was exhausted.

Everyone returned home later that evening. My husband prayed with me and went home to get a little sleep. That’s when I finally let the tears go and had a heart-to-heart talk with God.

Knowing He was there in the room with me was comforting. I needed a little sign of His presence and a sense of hope, however. For a few minutes I prayed. As I closed my prayer, I asked something special from God.

“God,” I whispered, “please send Your hope to me through the next person who walks through that door.” I looked over at the door. I had just gotten the words out of my mouth when I heard a knock.

“Come in,” I said as loudly as I could. A nurse, Faye, who had recently come on duty, stuck her head inside my room.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” she asked.

“Yes, please,” I responded. I needed to get up for a few minutes and asked her to help me with my IV pole. She noticed a Christian book on my bed and commented on the title. That opened up a conversation about God. For the next 10 minutes, we talked about God’s power, prayer and our relationships with Him. She left the room. I was still afraid.

Less than five minutes passed before I heard another knock. Faye walked back into my room.

“Can I tell you something else?” she asked.

“Sure.”

“I once had a pastor tell me that when I am going through painful times and feel that I can’t hold on to God any longer, I should just let go and let Him hang on to me. I just felt I needed to share that with you.”

Tears began to stream down my face. I knew that wasn’t a message from Faye or even from her pastor, but a message from God to me. God was letting me know He was hanging on to me at one of the weakest moments of my life.

I was able to release my struggling as I pictured God’s mighty hands holding me. In a little while I fell asleep, knowing I was in good hands.

When I asked God for someone to come into my room and bring hope to me, He didn’t waste any time. Hope walked through my door in an angel named Faye.

NANCY B. GIBBS and her husband Roy are co-pastors currently serving as evangelists. They are the proud parents of three grown children and three granddaughters. Nancy is the author of seven books, writes a weekly newspaper column and has contributed to hundreds of anthologies, magazines and devotional guides, including Chicken Soup for the Soul, Guideposts, On Mission, Decision, Family Circle and Woman's World. Nancy is also a Christian motivational speaker. She enjoys speaking at women's events. Check out her Web site at www.nancybgibbs.com.