Sick at home

A member of the congregation, John the usher, went to work on Monday like any other Monday. As he arrived at the cold, dark factory, he unlocked the back doors and made his way towards the large machines that he was responsible for to prepare the work for his team members. He began to turn each machine on as one by one of his coworkers began walking in. As he continued his way around the large room, the workers began talking and greeting one another, and they began to work.

"Morning Bob." "Morning Joe."

"How was your weekend, Joe?"

"Well, Bob, it was a rocky one, but that is a story for another day."

"Oh, okay, Joe. I'll be here whenever you want to chat."

A man named Fred made his way towards John to say good morning. But before, he went to lay out his working materials in his station. As he approached John, he began to cough and sneeze uncontrollably. "Shu, Ashu, shu, shu, shu, AAAAA. John walked up to Fred and asked, “Are you okay, Fred?” when suddenly Fred turned and sneezed directly into John’s face. "Ashuuuuuuu." Stunned, Fred profusely apologized and ran toward the back room where the restrooms were. John stood in shock, as he suddenly felt his head begin to spin and see everything turning.

He gripped a cold metal bar that was a part of the machine next to him and tried to regain his balance, but the wave of dizziness was too strong. He lurched forward and then back toward the ground. Luckily, he was still able to grip the machine beside him and sustain himself. He made his way to a seated position on a chair nearby. Fred returned from the back room with a mask covering his mouth. He apologized profusely to John. It was an accident after all, said John. Fred headed back towards his workstation, and John stood up from where he had been seated. He still felt the dizziness and the room turning, which made his stomach upset.

He headed toward his own workstation and began to file his belongings to begin his work. As he worked, his skin began to feel cold. He reached up to touch his face and felt sweat pour out and begin to heat up. In his mind, he questioned why he felt so ill; after all, it was just a sneeze. "Oh, Lord, my head, it hurts. Let me see if I can finish this job." He continued with his work, trying to ignore his sick feeling, but he felt himself getting worse. As he worked, his eyes became blurry. His hands began to shake. He felt that he needed to go home.

John went and told his supervisor what was going on.

"John, if you feel so bad, you should go home. Can you drive?"

"I think so. I'll call my wife if I can't drive. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow."

"Okay, John, call me. I hope that you feel better."

"Fred, go home too. I don't want anyone else to get what you have!"

 As John drove, his hands gripped the steering wheel fiercely. His blurry eyes and dizziness were getting worse by the minute. He worried that he would not make it to his home safely. He finally pulled his car into his driveway. Slowly he exited the car and began to shuffle toward the door of his home. John lived in a second floor building. He staggered and crawled until he made it to the second-floor landing. His wife met him at the door and asked him as to why he was home so early. As she asked him, she noticed his face was pale and his skin was very hot.

She brought him into the home quickly and took him to the bedroom, where he lay down. She began to worry as she watched him lie stiffly on the bed. What can I do to help him? She asked herself. John mumbled that he needed some rest, that's all, because his mouth was filled with saliva. Deep inside in John’s mind, he was feeling confused and worried about what was going on within him. He wondered why he felt like he was going to die. John asked himself, what should I do? Should I take medicine? Should I go to the hospital? Or should I call my pastor for prayer?

All these questions were swirling in his mind. Without his knowledge, his wife called their pastor to come. It was as if she had read his mind. So, when their pastor received the call, he made his way to his car to come. As he got into his SUV, raindrops began to hit the windshield. He thought to himself, “It’s going to be a long night.” Then, as he started the engine of his car, a roaring thunder from the heavens sounded loudly. He looked up into the sky and noticed that it had turned dark really fast. Clouds moved in quickly. As he began to make his way across town, the winds picked up, pushing his car around as he drove.

The rain came down in buckets, almost completely blocking his view.  As he was moving slowly through the traffic, a car sped through a red light and crashed into the left front side of his bumper. The pastor jumped and jerked from side to side in his seat in shock at the occurrence. His face hit the airbag, causing him to become dizzy and profusely disoriented. He walked out of his car, stumbling left to right in the rain, and went over to the little red car that hit him.

The man seated in the car looked confused and scared. The pastor looked at him kindly and asked if he was alright. The rain was coming down hard, so he had to shout when he spoke to the man in the red car. He shook his head and said, Yes. He pulled out his license and phone to call the police. The pastor said to the young man,

“No, no, I am needed elsewhere at this moment. Can we settle this later?”

"Why? I really prefer to do this now, if that is okay."

"I have a sick member of my church that I need to go and pray for."

"Oh, you are a pastor?"

"Yes, please come and visit my church some day."

"Okay, I will call you later so we can take care of this accident."

"Thank you, many blessings to you."

The pastor got back into his car and went on his way to John’s house. He felt a heavy, crushing sensation in his chest as he drove through the wet, dark streets. He knew he needed to get there soon, but the rain continued to come down hard. Finally, after such a tedious drive through the storm, he found himself arriving at John’s apartment and walked to the front door. Before he could ring the doorbell, the door flew open quickly. John’s wife stood before him with an expression of fear on her face. She grabbed the pastor's arm and dragged him toward the room, not caring that the pastor was drenched with rain.

As they walked into the room, the pastor saw that John’s illness was grave. John lay in the bed, pale as the white sheets that covered him. His face furrowed in a pained expression. Sweat poured from his skin, drenching the pillow and the sheets that covered him. John opened his eyes slowly and saw his pastor. He smiled weakly and said, “Oh Pastor, I don’t remember calling you. What are you doing here?” The pastor walked to the bed, sat on the edge, and grabbed John’s hand. He said, “Your wife called and asked me to come. I felt in my spirit that I needed to rush.”

And so, the pastor pulled out a small bottle of oil from his pocket and drew a tiny amount onto his hand. Just before the pastor touched John’s forehead, a rushing wind broke a branch off a tree near the house. With a loud noise, the branch shattered the window near John’s bed. Rain and wind gusted into the room where they were. Not moved by the noise, the pastor laid his hand gently onto John’s forehead and began to pray. As he prayed, John felt a sudden peace that filled his heart. He felt his stiffness slowly leave. The pained expression on his face softened to one that looked serene.

The prayer became intense with an urgent tone uttering from the pastor’s mouth. John’s wife stood at the door with her hands lifted as she quietly joined the prayer with the pastor. After the prayer was over, the pastor opened his eyes and saw that John was no longer pale. The sweat pouring out of him had stopped. John opened his eyes and looked at the pastor in shock. He had been healed. He sat up and hugged his pastor. John thanked him for healing him. The pastor looked him in the eyes and said, “Do not mistake this. This was not done by my works, but rather, by our God in heaven.” They stood up from the bed and made their way towards the kitchen, where John’s wife had begun preparing food. They sat at the dinner table and shared the scriptures. Thanking God, they continued to worship him as they ate and laughed.

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