"God Doesn't Even Know Who I Am"

I had the most disturbing telephone call recently. It was from an old friend of mine. She has been having some real health problems which in turn have caused some overwhelming financial problems. She was despondent, angry and depressed, her pain shouting out every word, as if she were unable to restrain it. I hadn't heard from Sheila* in a very long time. We used to be co-workers and friends. She attended a bible study at my house every Tuesday night for over a year. Sheila was one of the few people I have ever met who truly knew nothing at all about God. She had grown up in a family that did not go to church, that did not pray and in fact, that never spoke of God or religion at all. In fact, she did not own a bible nor had she ever and no one in her family owned one they could loan her. Her desire to learn and her fresh look at the Bible and its characters was inspiring. We knew that every week, Sheila would come with her notebook, having studied the lesson in advance and prepared with three or four pages of questions. She was not ashamed to have so many questions and as we taught her, she also taught us. Her simple questions reminded us that not everyone knows that the Old Testament land of Israel is in the same place we find the Israel of today. Not everyone knows that the Old Testament and the New Testament are both the stories of God and His people. Not everyone knows that Moses was a real life person and the story of the ten plagues was very real. And so, as we learned to together, we grew to love Sheila and began praying for her salvation.
It was not long before Sheila changed jobs and stopped coming to bible study. As her illness became symptomatic, she started to withdraw. She did not answer her phone, nor did she come to answer her doorbell, cards were sent without response. We looked for her while shopping, we looked for her when driving down the road and we asked about her to mutual friends. Sheila, it seemed had chosen to drop off the face of the earth.
So you can imagine my surprise, three years later and three states away, to get a phone call from my long lost friend. The first call was a hangup, but thanks to the modern convenience of caller ID, I saw her name and called her right back. Sheila began telling me about her recent struggles, her chronic pain, the lack of support from her family and friends and the emotional strain she was under. I cried as she told me how depressed and desperate she had become. I cried as she said that her parents did not believe she was ill in spite of the fact that she was losing weight and her hair had all fallen out. I cried as she told me, she no longer knew where to turn for help. My heart hurt so much for my friend and I began suggesting possible resources and services. I gave her phone numbers and contact people. I gave her names of people who knew other people who could possibly offer some assistance. She seemed to listen and I was hopeful that somehow she would be able to find relief, that she would once again be able to work, able to function, able to care for herself and that she would be the happy, beautiful Sheila I remembered.
As our two hour phone call came to a close, we exchanged the usual goodbyes and I ended my call with, "I will pray for you", to which she replied, "Please don't---God doesn't even know who I am." At that statement the phone call abruptly ended. To this day, I am not sure whether Sheila hung up or the phone lost its signal or what happened. I tried to call back several times but got no answer. I was unable to get back in touch with my dear friend Sheila. And now, several months later, I have still not reconnected. Every attempt has failed and I began to feel helpless. And then I remembered the incredible power of prayer. In spite of the fact that Sheila has no faith in it, in spite of the fact that her desperation has shaped or misshaped her view of God and His power, I still believe in prayer. I believe God can heal her, I believe He can use her pain and her illness to help bring her to Him. I believe He can restore her health and bring about a faith that will open the lines of communication between them. I believe in prayers.
So today, my request from you, my friends, is that you pray for Sheila also. I am back in the town where she lives and am looking for opportunities to minister to her, pray that God will open those doors. Please pray for her and although you don't even know who she is, we all know that God does indeed and it was for my friend that He sent His Son!

Peace
Neva