I don’t know about you, but I’m a seeker – a seeker of stories.

I love to hear how other people come to know our Savior and Lord. Some day you might get a chance to hear a testimony by drawing up the courage to ask, “How did you meet the Lord?”

He reveals Himself extraordinarily in ordinary lives.

This story is no different. An ordinary day in an ordinary restaurant. Join me, will you, and see what happens:

I looked at her with newfound admiration, tuning out the breakfast enthusiasts so I could hear her story. There was more here than met the eye. I saw a cultured, well-dressed, intelligent woman with a message. She talked about her God as if He were seated at the table with us. She knew Him intimately.

It was felt in her words – it was seen in her face.

What happens in a person’s life to make God so real?

When she was sixteen her body had crumbled beneath the clutches of muscular dystrophy. Her young body moved like an old woman and the doctors couldn’t do anything for her except keep her comfortable. She knew intimately what this horrible disease did to her family.

Death always leaves a shadow. “What happened?” I asked her. She said, “I cried to God, ‘Heal me or kill me!’ “

I watched as her brown eyes closed in memory and her lips revealed with clarity what happened. Her faith was challenged and she met it head on.

Who is this God? Is He who He says He is? She begged and begged for healing, without resolution. She knocked on heaven’s door so loudly the echoes shook her soul.

In response, there was silence – a hurting silence.

Yet something was happening, something unseen, deep down in the recesses of her soul. Not a healing, but a presence. Her confidence grew in Him and with strength she just walked out of the hospital without looking back.

Her doctor, with unusual emotional attachment, tried to convince her to stay. He held little hope for her except premature death.

Then she did the unthinkable – she stopped taking her medications – cold turkey. In response, her body convulsed, shuddered, but she fought through the pain. Within weeks she’d lost 40 pounds. Was God taking her feeble, nearly lifeless body with the disease?

She returned to the doctor who thought she was on death’s bed. The doctor couldn’t explain it, but a miracle happened: tests, tests, and more tests substantiated her faith.

Her God was still in the healing business.

Right there in Denny’s, I lifted my coffee cup in a salute – such faith should be recognized. Here was a healthy, happy, forty-ish wife and mother with a powerful testimony.

She’d discovered a pearl of great price. She found the power in a yielded heart – a heart beating to the rhythm of her Master.

Her testimony touched me by its raw reality. I would have been content if the story had ended there like some great fairy tale, but it didn’t.

This experience was just the beginning of a lifetime of troubles. But foundational in her life was a strong faith. God had shown Himself faithful. The more she depended on Him, the more He intervened on her behalf.

Relationship issues, health problems, and emotional struggles were yielded to her Savior. Each time she found Him faithful and each time God did not disappoint.

I could have listened to her life stories all day if that were possible. Sisters we had become and sisters of faith we would remain.

She knew her God by name – It’s etched on her heart, mind, and soul. It pours out of her like an overflowing vessel.

Scripture, again and again, becomes true in those who lean on His Word:

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times in trouble. Those who know Your name trust in You for You, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek You. Psalm 9:9-10 

Christine is a credentialed minister with the Assemblies of God serving at Living Waters Fellowship in Kissimmee, Florida. She spent over twenty years in the Army, beginning as a private in the Women’s Army Corps and retiring as a Major. She knows, first hand, that military life isn’t easy as a wife, soldier, or mother, but she knows that each challenge brings her closer to the Lover of her soul. Christine’s life changed the day she learned the secrets of a “yielded heart.” She is passionate about sharing her journey to the heart of God. Her writing style is clear, unique and poetic – her goal is to make God’s Word irresistible. If you’re encouraged, challenged or inspired by her writing then follow her at A Yielded Heart.