“I am an anyone.”

5 years ago my wife and I had a wake up call from our great Savior, Jesus. I was painting houses and life was just grand and all was well (kind of like “woe to those who are at ease in Zion.”) A lump had developed in my body. I went to the doctor (Daniel) and he sent me to another doctor (Samuel) and he sent me to have an ultra sound done. To make this a shorter story, he had me rushed to the hospital because there was a great suspicion that this was cancer.

When I learned of my condition, I contacted my long time dear friend (Ron). He told me on the phone, “Hey Jerome, my dad (Don) had something like you but much more progressed. The Doctor removed it and would have given his right arm if it was not cancer – that how sure it was cancer. But the report came back from pathology that it was non-cancerous. And that could happen to you.”

Well I know that my friend would never tell me anything that was meant to be discouraging, but when I hung up the phone, I said to the Lord. “Well Lord, you would do that for a godly man like Ron’s dad, who has lived a righteous life for you. But Lord, you know me, I am not like him."

The following day I continued to call on the Lord with all my heart to have mercy on me. That evening I was reading in Mark. You will have to read the gospel (it is the shortest of the 3) and twice, Mark records Jesus going into an area and anyone who heard He was in the area, ran to HIM with their loved ones who were ill. And as many as He touched or came to Him, He healed. After reading that twice in Mark, I exclaimed, “O LORD, I may not be like Ron’s dad, but I am like these “anyone”s and I am going to run to you like they did. O Lord, I am an ‘anyone’ who is running to you!” So I ran to the Lord.

The lump 5 years ago was removed and found to be totally benign. That is what the Lord Jesus can do.

But after I realized that Lord heard my cry about my condition, in a way that only the Lord Jesus can do, He had me take another look at those two passages in Mark again. This time I saw the scriptures say – (paraphrased) “the people ran to Him BRINGING THEIR SICK ONES, and as many HE touched, were healed."

And it was like the Lord was saying, “did you notice how broken you were over your own condition? That is what you should be like with everyone else's conditions.”

Again, I will never truly understand on this side of heaven why He would chose to use us, as we cry out to Him for others, to complete HIS will. But that is His reason and for me to only trust.

Romans 10:13 says, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” That was a promise that the Lord has made and will keep, this is certain. I am glad that you and I are “whoevers” or “anyones”.