It was a miracle!

While my intention was to dedicate this blog to silliness, an event happened to me on November 4, 2007 that was so profound, I cannot but share it with you.

It was a Sunday that started not unlike other Sundays. A race to get out of the house (even though the time change gave us an extra hour), a great time of fellowship with my “Sunday School class”, and then to the pews for a great time of learning and worshipping the one true God. But this morning the worship service would take a slightly different, but not unheard of, twist. We would be celebrating “communion”.

Allow me to take a minute to explain “communion”. It is a time of reflection and celebration with Jesus followers. There is bread and juice which symbolize the body and blood of Jesus when He was crucified. His body was “broken” (as in He died) so that we could have forgiveness of sin and fellowship with God. The bread and juice are distributed to the congregation to eat and drink in remembrance and recognition of the sacrifice Jesus (who is God) made.

Now back to the story:

As the bread came to me, I was about to take a piece when I remembered “I can’t eat that!” (For those that do not know, I have “Celiac” disease and cannot eat even the smallest amount of wheat or I have incredible amounts of pain and suffering. Even touching the bread and licking my fingers would be enough to set me off.) I let the bread pass by. That’s when I very clearly heard God telling me to “Eat it. Eat it. Eat it!” I knew God wanted to me to eat it. (I think He said it three times because I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer and need, sometimes, to be told more than once.) I thought, but was not sure of this, that God was telling me I would not experience any symptoms of Celiac disease if I ate the bread in obedience. I got off the pew and hunted down the bread. Then, in faith, I ate the bread.

For most of you, there is nothing special about eating bread. But let me share with you what it was like for me, a Celiac, not having eaten “real” bread for quite some time: that was the most delicious piece of bread I have ever eaten. I let the gluten filled piece of dough melt in my mouth, delighting myself in the wondrous taste of it. Then, a Bible verse popped into my mind. “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.” Never before has that verse carried so much meaning as at that instant. It was a tremendously spiritual moment for me.

After church, I went home and waited. I did not want to expect the symptoms; I wanted to expect the miracle. And the miracle is what I got! God honoured my obedience to Him by granting me an afternoon without pain and suffering. He granted me an incredible experience, an incredible insight into the goodness of God.

Let me close this story by noting that this is not about me. It is about God and His faithfulness. God keeps His promises. God wants so much to give us good things. We must choose to accept, even when accepting requires a leap of faith.

Note of Caution: I consider the event that took place to be “out of the ordinary”. I would not encourage any one with Celiac disease to assume it is okay to eat bread at communion. In this case, I received a very clear word from God that it would be okay. The next time I am in a communion service, I would not take the bread unless God clearly calls me to again.