Do You Experience This Power?

At times we experience the stormy seas of suffering, the wild winds of worry, and the turbulent time of trials, and in the midst of all the madness that life can produce, every human being looks for one thing – peace! But the sad part of this reality is that not everyone experiences peace when they need it.

When Bertrand Russell was on his deathbed, he asked his wife, Edith, to embrace him and then he said, “My love, I’ve been searching for peace all my life, but I’ve never found it.”

To those who know him, he was one of the great peacemakers of the 20th century, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. This should be a huge disappointment for those who looked to him, as a model atheist, to see if humans can find peace outside of faith in Christ, especially since he authored the popular book “Why I am not a Christian,” which became kind of a Bible for atheists and agnostics.

Much of our world is just like Russell! I say that because I did a search on Amazon for books on “peace” and I got over 50,000 results. The fact that there are so many books on this subject means peace is a big business. But also, how sad when you have to search through all the thousands of books man can produce, and still fall short of peace!

Man’s search for peace is filled with worldly wisdom that really has no lasting value. But in one powerful book you can search for peace, and over 400 times you can find powerful promises that will perpetually produce peace for any problem you face! And that one book is – the Bible! Look no further for the greatest textbook, and the greatest field study on the subject! If only Bertrand Russell would have reached out the God of peace!

Our very own Mike Angerstein has been struggling a long time with what turns out to be his gallbladder going bad on him. Over the past several years he has had very painful flare ups with it.

So last Thursday, Mike called me at 3:30am and asked if I would take him to the VA hospital in Phoenix. By now his pain is getting worse on the 2-and-a-half-hour trip. He is admitted, and the tests reveal that gallbladder surgery is the only answer.

With Mike’s delicate health, this is the last thing he wanted to hear from his team of doctors. After careful analysis from the doctors, they all clear him for surgery, but Mike said to them several times that he doesn’t want surgery. At the last meeting with his doctors, as all the doctors walked into the room, something happened! It was as if peace walked right into that room also, and then flooded Mike’s mind with the calm assurance that he must go through with the surgery. That was God’s peace that was produced by the Holy Spirit now ruling his heart, and going beyond his understanding at that very moment.

It turns out that the gallbladder was filled with very toxic poisons from all the gangrene that was also flooding into the rest of his body. If he had not responded to the peace given to him from God, Mike would not have made it much longer.

But that’s not the end of the story from yesterday (Monday)!

Mike’s successful surgery is over, and then he goes back to his room. Later that day he happens to look up at the clock on the wall across the room, and without his glasses, notices that he is able to read the exact time on the clock from that long distance!

Miraculously, Mike’s eyesight returned to what it was at least 4 years ago! So it would seem that the deadly toxins from the gallbladder were attacking his eyes and severely reducing his sight, especially over the last 5 months.

This is the result of the God of peace letting us experience the power of peace!

By the way, Mike comes home from the hospital tomorrow (Wednesday). Amen!