It happened down south, during the days when the elders of a church would literally pile into wagons (for very few farming folks had automobiles back then),and go to the house of an atheist (or unbeliever, as folks called them back then), to try and turn such folks 'in the right direction', telling them of the salvation offered by Jesus.
My Grandfather, a preacher himself, often spoke the words from the Bible~ (Ezekiel 3-18),which tells us of our responsibility as Christians to tell such people of the gift of eternal salvation, for according to this verse, the blood of those folks will be 'upon' us if we don't. Taking this into consideration, this is what transpired that day.
There was a woman in the area who was a self-proclaimed atheist, and the church elders went to her home one Sunday in order to 'do their duty' as Christians should. My Grandpa's brother was present, along with his wife. They talked and prayed for a long time, more or less in a 'spiritual wrestle' with this woman, who would have none of it.
The next thing that happened is a true miracle...Apparently she couldn't or wouldn't listen to anymore of the gospel, and flew into a fury! Having a little 'brownie' camera in her house, she ran from the room and out into the yard. Then, in vision and earshot of everyone present, she cursed God with horrible, blasphemous words.
She then held the camera up to the sky (which was a beautiful, cloud-less day) and screamed out these words, along with more cursing of course..."If there be a God up there, or anywhere, let him show his face!" And with that said, she snapped the photograph, gave the camera to the closest person, and stomped into her house in a rage. What follows is bitter-sweet.
The film was developed, putting the fear of God into those in the church who only THOUGHT they had it before!! The photo was taken to the womans house, and she was called out to look at it. One look at the black and white photo of those sad eyes set in the obvious divine face of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the atheist woman gasped, and hit the ground with a thump!
No, she wasn't dead, but may as well have been, for she went totally and completely mad, and was hospitalized in a mental institution until her death a short time later.
No one knows if she accepted Jesus as her saviour after that or not, but my Grandmother was intrusted with the actual photo, which is still in the little black triangles inside her very old black-paper photo album. I have copies of it, as well as a video of my Grandmother holding the album while telling the story. The original is still in pretty good shape, considering it is over 50 years old, and those same haunting, remorseful eyes stare out at you in a pleading sort of way.
Having it in mind to 'show the picture to the whole world', I had the copies made. However, after some thought and consideration, as well as advice from family members, warning against exploitation of such a treasure by this commercialized, profit-gaining world, I put that thought aside.
I so wanted to share it with everyone, along with the story, in order to possibly save a few precious souls from damnation. But I cannot let such a humbling gift from God be exploited, and so I opted to just 'tell the story', and if only the story turns ONE life around, sending ONE more soul into God's army, then it will be even more of a treasure than it is now!
This is a completely TRUE story, as told to me by my Grandmother and Grandpa (a preacher himself), and told exactly as I heard it. Of course, I wasn't there when the thing happened, but I can vouch for the photo of Jesus. As God is my witness, that picture was created by the Lord in order to 'open' a poor lost soul's eyes.
Whether it did or not is only known by God almighty now...but I certainly hope and pray that she did not pass from this life without the love of Jesus Christ in her heart...And that is yet another miracle of God that took place in the 'Bible Belt' of the deep south so many years ago. Isn't it good to know that God loves us so very much, that every now and again, he gives us a tiny little glimpse of his own heart?! Praise God!
COPYRIGHT: Angela Evon Walker
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