I grew up in Southern Minnesota on a family farm. My dad, 98, harvested his last crop in 2015, after more than 68 years of farming. He and my mom, 95, moved off the farm after the last crop, but I will always have excellent memories of our time there.
One of those memories recurred every year as my extended family traveled to the farm for Christmas. We would arrive to a huge Christmas meal that my mom had prepared. Afterwards we would all participate in a Christmas program, from the Word, with many Christmas songs and a few skits. The program concluded with a time of sharing, giving everyone a chance to share what the Lord had been doing in our lives the past year.
A number of years ago, my dad began to tell us of some events that took place the week before. With tears welling up in his eyes, he said he had attended a farming presentation in Minneapolis, about an hour and a half from the farm. He planned to watch a movie after the presentation. Yet, for some reason, when the presentation ended, he didn’t feel like going to the movies and started for home.
My mom also had plans that day. She attended a church event in the afternoon and then returned home. While walking to the house, she lost her balance and fell into a snowbank. She could not get up.
When my dad arrived home, he found mom still lying in the snow. She had been there nearly two hours. He was emotionally distraught because he wasn’t physically strong enough to help her up. With tears in his eyes, he went back to his car to phone for help. He cried out to the Lord, “I’m going to need some of Your help here!” When he returned, inexplicably, he was able to lift my mom up and get her into the house.
There wasn’t a dry eye in our family as my dad recounted this traumatic experience. We were pained for Mom and yet rejoicing at the goodness of God to answer Dad’s prayer.
Providentially our church was memorizing Isaiah 46:3-4 that week with Fighter Verses:
“Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.”
Truly God was faithful. He had carried my mom from birth to every one of her gray hairs. He had indeed saved her—from the snowbank, but most importantly, for eternity.
God not only strengthened Dad to lift Mom out of the snow. He also strengthened my faith as I thought about her fall and rescue in light of the Isaiah passage. Without that truth, I would have been tempted to think God was unloving to allow my elderly mom to lie in the snowbank for two hours. I would have missed the greatness and wonder of God. I would not have been prepared to proclaim God’s goodness. Because I was memorizing Isaiah 46:3-4, I could say with assurance–and by experience–He will carry the gray and elderly, He will bear them up through His strength. Even when my dear dad was unable—look what He did for Mom! Praise God, He will carry, He will save.
This story is adapted from the introduction to Hidden in My Heart: Memorizing Scripture to Fight the Fight of Faith. Brian’s story joins the many we’ve heard over the years from customers who've experienced the power of the memorized Word. We hope everyone reading his testimony of God’s power will join the thousands of believers fighting the fight of faith with the Word of God. Learn more at FighterVerses.com and sign up for a free download of the Fighter Verses Guide to Scripture Memory.
