Lo, I am With You, Even to the End of the World

This is a story that my mother told us kids many times. My grandmother was a wonderful woman of faith and though she died long before I was born, I grew up wanting to be like her because of my mother's faithfulness to relate to us the stories of her life.

The small Brethern Church that Mama's family attended had a tradition of joining the church when you turned 16 years old. My mom had the idea that she should know that she was a Christian and that she was saved before she joined. Some people just joined the church because it was time to, but my mom knew that her dad knew God and her mother knew God. They were very godly people. Although mother was a good girl, she thought that she ought to know she was saved. So, every night she would pray and pray because it was coming up to the time that she would be asked to join the church. She didn't want to embarrass her beloved father by not joining the church. So, she was in a panic that she hear from God. She didn't want to tell her father, that she didn't know God or he would of been hurt to no end. They would have felt like their life was just ruined and that they would have been failures in not bringing their children up to know and serve the Lord. So, every night she would pray and pray and ask the Lord to give her the assurance that she was saved and knew Him. Each night she received nothing. She just could not get that feeling that she was born again. So one night she was just crying and she said, Lord, I want to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am a Christian and I can't get that feeling. I can't do it and I am leaving it with you. If you want to show me, show me. If you don't then you don't have to. But I want to know. In her exhaustion and worry she got up and laid across the bed. It was way late in the night, which was unusual for her to be up that late. After she laid across the bed and went to sleep she had an amazing experience. It seemed like her body was a huge tunnel and the wind was just blowing through this tunnel, blowing and blowing. Then she said a sweet feeling came like she was floating on a sea of peace. She was filled with joy and peace. Then a voice spoke to her and said, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world". The next thing she knew it was morning. She said for 3 days after that she had the sensation that her feet were not touching the ground. She knew that God had spoken to her personally and that He would be with her always. She could now tell her dad that she was a real Christian and she knew what she was doing when she joined the church. She was not just joining a group of people but she was telling the world that she knew the Lord and was devoted to the things of the Lord. This experience was a pivotal point for her through the hard times in her life. She always told this story to us kids and her face would glow and you could feel the presence of the Lord. We loved to hear Mama tell this. It was something that happened to her and she made it real to us.

I just read a post by Kathi at Feathering My Nest. It was a wonderful story of her grandmother and what the Lord did for her. It reminded me of this story of my grandmother and led me to share it with you.