God Can! Chapter 1 - It will Pass

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which

hath begun a good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ:”

 —Philippians 1:6

The date was February, 1978, and I was at work.

This would be the day that would change my
life forever, but, of course, I had no way of knowing
that at the time. I worked at a tobacco company. My
job was to add one particular ingredient to all the
tobacco that came my way. It was a boring job, and
me with spare time on my hands, inspiring me to
ask the boss if reading was permissible at work. He
remarked, “If it does not interfere with your work,
help yourself.”
    Not knowing Christ as my Saviour, I bought a
new Bible to take to work and read during my spare
time. On one particular day, my reading was in the
book of Isaiah, chapter 53 and I was memorizing
the chapter down to verse 6, where the Bible says,
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned
everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all.”
    These words struck me like a bolt of lightning
and pierced me to the core of my being. Down on
my knees I went in an instant. A big hand seemed to
grabbed me and held me over a large fire. Without
a shadow of a doubt this was the fire of Hell. I did
not like what I was experiencing! What is going on
here?
    God was telling me something! This was for
real; I could feel and see the Flames Of Hell! Even
though I was at work and it was broad daylight, and
was fully awake and present on my job, I could not
see anyone in this fire. I could only see and feel its
intense flames! I definitely did not like what I was
experiencing. All of this occurred in just a moment of
time.
     Shaken, I cried out to Jesus, “Jesus, I know
without a shadow of a doubt that I am a sinner. I
believe that You died on the cross for my sins. I
believe that You were buried and arose again on the
third day. Jesus, I am asking You, the best I know
how, to forgive me of all my sins, come into my
heart, and be my personal Saviour. Lord Jesus, I
open my heart and give my life completely to You
for the remainder of my days here upon this earth to
serve You in any way You want.”
     Peace like a river flooded my soul in a way that is
unexplainable. Immediately Jesus impressed upon
my heart that He wanted me to preach His Word.
I said, “Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. I will by Your power
and grace.” There at that very moment, before getting
off my knees, I knew that I had been born again
and was a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
     Amazed at what had taken place, I walked over
to a co-worker’s station and shared my salvation
experience with him. He said, “Give it a few days
and it will pass.” I did not know what he meant,
but I knew what had happened, and I could not get
away from it. Jesus had forgiven me of all my sins
and I was rejoicing! Praise the Lord!
     All this was new to me. What about preaching?
I did not know much about the Bible except what
I had just read and experienced. Thinking about
that for a while and concluded the need to study
the Bible in order to know what to preach. That
night I went home all excited and eager to tell my
wife, Linda, about what had happened and what I
thought the Lord wanted us to do. Honey, the Lord
has impressed me to sell our home and move to
Chattanooga, Tennessee, to enroll in Tennessee
Temple Schools, known today as Tennessee Temple
University, to study God’s Word.
      Linda remarked, “That is what the Lord wants
you to do—not me. I like my new home. I like you
having a good job and I like security.” I understood
from where she was coming, because I liked
those things, too, but the Lord had changed my life
and vision for the future. Everything was different
now—at least to me.
    We were married when she was only seventeen.
She had grown up in a Christian home and
had known the Lord since she was fifteen years old.
When we met, her mother told her that I would be a
preacher some day. I think that may have been the
reason she let Linda marry me at such a young age.
   After my salvation experience we started
attending Church; she made things right with the
Lord. She eventually had perfect peace about what
the Lord wanted us to do and was willing to follow
God’s calling on my life. Praise the Lord for that!
      It is now more than thirty-one years since my
Salvation; by His grace, it has not passed!

I can hear my Saviour calling!


(Copyright by Jay B Ayers)