THE GREATEST SPIRITUAL GIFT OF OUR EXPERIENCE

by Dean Harvey

My version

 

It was the late summer of 1969, and I was getting ready to retire from the Navy in February 1971. I was planning to go into the ministry after retirement, but did not know exactly how I would be involved in ministry. I had been ordained, had pastored one church during broken service in the Navy, and another while on shore duty. And while in the Navy I taught classes and preached when the opportunity arose.

I was invited to preach a one week revival in a small church in Wilmington, North Carolina, and our whole family, Shirley and I and our four children, went. They provided a nice little place for us to stay, and we enjoyed the week with our family. We held services every evening at the church, with two services on both Sundays. As far as I remember, two people made professions of faith during the week, and the entire week seemed a success to me. The Christians were edified, in addition to the two conversions.

Shortly after we returned home to Virginia Beach, one evening my wife said that she wanted to help me to become a better preacher. She said that she noticed some weaknesses in my presentation of the gospel, and since she just wanted to help me, she would share them with me. I honestly do not remember what it was that she said, but as she began to tell me, I got angry. I told her that she was just criticizing. After a time of argument, probably fifteen minutes or so, I told her that I just would not preach any more.

She responded back in anger, if that was the way I felt, she just wouldn't be married to me any more, that she would divorce me. At that she stormed out of the upstairs bedroom and went downstairs. We were both very angry.

Just as she got downstairs, the phone rang. She picked it up, and in an angry voice said, "Hello." There was a woman on the phone who said, "Mrs. Harvey, you don't know me, but I have a message for you from God."

Shirley yelled up the stairs for me to pick up the phone. "There is some woman on the phone who has a message from God," and, "I'm not going to listen to it by myself."

So I picked up the phone and the lady explained to me that we didn't know each other, but that she had a message from God. But first, she would like to sing a song to us. It sounded like she put the phone down on a piano, began to play and to sing a familiar hymn. I am sorry that I do not remember the name of the hymn. Later, Shirley said "When she sang the hymn, tears came to my eyes."

After the song was over, she picked up the phone, and gave us this message. As I remember it, she described the argument we had just had, as if she had been in the room listening to it, and warned us to repent, not to divorce, and to keep on preaching. The last words she said were, "Remember Lot's wife."

When she hung up the phone, I went downstairs. Shirley and I realized that God had just intervened into our stupid argument. We both got on our knees beside the couch, and we began to cry and pray, and asked God to forgive us, promised that we would never again do that. Afterward we hugged each other and asked each other for forgiveness. We were completely reconciled. We realized that God loved us very much, and had done something very unusual to reconcile us to each other and to Him.

We never did find out who the lady was, but in heaven we will meet her. We will thank her for being spiritually sensitive so that God could use her in the time of our great need.

In fifty-six years of walking with the Lord, and in seeing the operation of many spiritual gifts, this was the greatest one.

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