Decades Ago To Days Later

 

Decades ago, while Bonnie and I were planting the Augusta Vineyard, I walked into a hospital room where Carol and her two-year-old son were.

The room looked like a hurricane had swept through it. The little boy was jumping up and down on the bed. The rolling hospital table was lying on its side. The sheets were hanging off the mattress. Carol sat on the couch looking completely exhausted and overwhelmed almost to the point of tears.

“Carol, what’s going on?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “He’s been doing this for hours.”

“What can I do for you?”

Without missing a beat, she answered, “Put him to sleep.”

So I reached out, pulled the boy close to me, and wrapped him in a bear hug.

Silently, I asked the Lord, “What are you doing Father and what do you want me to do?”

I felt like the Lord said, “I’m putting the boy to sleep. Tell him to sleep.”

So I did. Instantly, he fell asleep.

Carol cried out, “How did you do that?”

“I didn’t,” I replied. “The Lord did.”

Fast forward to June 7, 2026

I was guest preaching at the Augusta Vineyard. Afterward, Carol came to greet me and introduced me to that same little boy—now a grown man. He had never heard the hospital story, so I shared it with him.

Days later,

Carol called and told me the rest of the story.

Her son had been an atheist for fifteen years. Recently he read Carol’s testimony and was so deeply moved that he jokingly described himself as a “born-again agnostic.”

Carol told me that her small group had been faithfully praying for him. “But Thor,” she said, “when you told him the hospital story and prayed for him, that was it. Something changed. Your prayer was part of what God used to bring my son to Jesus.”

There’s More.

That same Sunday, I was also introduced to the children and grandchildren of many old friends. Their kids and grandkids love Jesus, and many of them are actively serving Him in a ministry.

Don’t Quit!

There have been numerous times in ministry when I wanted to quit. Ministry can be hard, and sometimes the fruit is hidden for years. But when I hear stories like these, I thank God that I didn’t quit.

You never know how God is working through a prayer, a conversation, or an act of obedience. Sometimes the harvest comes decades later.