An Angelic
Visitation
A testimony by
Robyn Van Duyn, Nelson, New Zealand
Unfortunately I
had one of those “hidden” annoying little irritations that generally one doesn’t speak about
but given the amazing situation that was about to unfold, I am prepared to bare my soul and
tell all and let the amazing work of the Holy Spirit and the fact that nothing is overlooked
by Him tell of His wondrous power and grace.
It was one hot
summer’s day and I began to experience tummy pain – nothing too unusual for me, but which
then rapidly progressed to excruciating pain in the pelvic region, resulting in feverish
chills and nausea. A trip to the Dr and a quick diagnosis - a UTI – (urinary tract
infection), a super-drug prescribed and I should be all better in about four days she
said.
I was, for about
two days, and so it was back to the Dr and another round of antibiotics. It was during this
time our pastor was preaching a series on Faith and although I have been a Christian since
age 4, (I am now 52) it was a message I’d heard countless times, but new revelation got my
attention and so I began to “wield the sword” and “believe” what the Word of God said “By His
stripes I am healed” – I mean really
believe and not doubt!
So began a
stupendous battle. The more I believed, the worse it got. In fact so painful, I began to
worry something more sinister was afoot.
At the end of a
third course of antibiotics and still no sign of abating, I looked on the internet for
information regarding recurring UTIs and to my dismay discovered that some people are on
antibiotics for up to 12 years!!! Medical
research on the internet is not helpful for a faith-building exercise!
I decided it
would be more advantageous to tell the Lord that I wanted to be like Abraham, and have “great
faith” and that I believed He would heal me.
One Saturday
evening I was sharing my increasing fears with a friend and she asked me if I had resolved an
unforgiveness issue involving a mutual friend that had happened some two years earlier. That
just as Jesus says in Mark 11:22-26 we can ask anything in His name and it will be done as we
believe, but that if we have anything against anyone, then we must first forgive them and
seek His forgiveness for our offence. Although I was initially shocked to realise that I
hadn’t and admitted that to her, I was just as eager to admit my sin, and bring it before the
Lord, if that was indeed hindering my healing. The next morning, before attending church I
did just that and the Lord revealed another unforgiving situation that I had also completely
forgotten about. I went to church feeling loved, cleansed and forgiven but still that nagging
uncomfortable feeling round my bladder was not going away.
The pain just
got worse during church that day and so afterwards I asked the pastor to pray for me. He told
me God had healed me already, but that fear was lurking so rebuked the devil and told me to
believe.
All that
afternoon and the next morning I battled! I was NOT GIVING IN and NOT GOING BACK TO THE
DR!
About 3pm that
Monday afternoon I was ironing and talking to the Holy Spirit. “Why am I not healed Lord?”
“What do I need
to do to receive my healing, that I haven’t done already?”
The doorbell
rang. I opened the door and a young woman was standing there. She looked slightly
uncomfortable and rather timidly asked if I knew of anywhere she could heat up some food.
Well we own and operate a Bed & Breakfast, so she had come to the right
house!
She came in, I
provided the necessary utensils and she began to talk. “I don’t usually tell people this,”
she said, “but we are Christians, travelling around New Zealand and praying for people.
Sometimes they have issues with unforgiveness so don’t receive their healing!!!!!! ”
Incredulous, I
looked at her and asked in utter amazement, “Are you an angel?!”
“And I don’t
normally tell complete strangers such personal details, but…” And I proceeded to tell her
about my sickness, my friend’s phone-call and the conversation I had just been having with
the Lord.
She laughed and
told me she was wondering the same thing about me!! I knew I definitely didn’t qualify on
that count but her - could the Lord have really
sent this woman to my door as His personal messenger?!!! It was getting more incredible by
the second. She proceeded to inform me the driver of the car they were getting a ride in had
bumped into the kerb right outside our house and whilst he and her husband were fixing the
now flat tyre, her husband decided he was hungry and could she find somewhere to heat up some
food for him. She got out of the car and prayed, “Lord, please show me where to go…” and the
Lord gave her a picture of red roses flowering in front of a house – she turned and there was
my Dublin Bay – a profusion of red blooms!! Just
that day, I had looked at my roses and marvelled that they were still blooming so healthily
and for the time of the season!
Bianca, as I
soon learned she was called, then went to tell her husband she could heat up his food, where
he could find her and would I like him to pray for me. With more than a little trepidation, I
said he was welcome to pray for me and after the driver had washed his hands, taken some of
the food and departed, it was then I noticed husband and luggage were now standing in our
car-park wondering which door to come in.
“Rob” - 6’4,
blonde and with piercing blue eyes sat at our breakfast bar and ate his food. Bianca relayed
her part of the story and I finished with mine. Neither Bianca nor I knew who was more
astonished, but to Rob – it was just another day at the
office!
He asked if
there was somewhere a bit more conducive to prayer than the dining room and I ushered them
into the lounge. It was now almost 4pm.
Bianca standing
strategically behind me, was silent, and Rob in front began to gently ask the Holy Spirit to
come. That was all! After a few moments he suggested I put my hands out “in a receiving way”
and it was then I began to be filled with apprehension. What had I done? I had opened my door
to strangers, invited them in and now was opening myself up to goodness knows what!! “OH
LORD”, I silently shouted. “Please let Kees (my husband) come home SOON!” “Please don’t let
anything happen to me that is not in accordance with your
will!”
No sooner were
my thoughts shot like an arrow Heaven-wards, than out of Rob’s mouth came the words: “Robyn,
just like it says in Psalm 103 – He has forgiven all your iniquities and healed all your
diseases…” I didn’t hear anymore – the
sense of awe and utter amazement were just too overwhelming! THAT SCRIPTURE IS MY HUSBAND’S
FAVOURITE – Kees had received an amazing healing of a knee that required surgery from that
very scripture and he quotes it often!!!
The tears came
then…
And at that very
moment Kees pulled into the driveway!!
Hurriedly Rob
said “Be healed Robyn…”
I looked up at
Rob in sheer amazement as Kees walked in with a “what-is-going-on-here?” look on his
face.
I was too
amazed, overwhelmed and totally astonished by the speed and accuracy with which God had
revealed His love, power and great grace to me, to notice immediately the pain had gone!!
My husband had
to hear the story, then Rob and Bianca sat silently on the couch whilst my husband, not yet
knowing the full significance of why they were in our home, shared his story and testimony of
how he had travelled to Europe to share his faith with his family some 32 ago! Rob and Bianca
were transfixed as we were to learn later, aspects of Kees’s story parallelled Rob’s
own.
The story
doesn’t end here.
In the middle of
the sharing session that went on till around 5.30pm, Kees just suddenly told them we had a
room available and they could stay the night. (I had had a phone-call the day before from a
woman who had booked that room to say she had got her dates mixed up and would not be coming
till the day after. That meant that room was available for two
nights!)
At that point
Bianca burst into tears and I felt she was tired and relieved at the same time to know where
they would be laying their heads that night, so I showed her to the room.
She stood in the
room and began to cry buckets. Between the sobs she shared with me how they had slept out in
the open in the Abel Tasman Park the night before and she had prayed that morning, “Lord,
please let me have a comfortable big bed with lots of pillows tonight.” What she was seeing was our super-king bed stuffed
with pillows as well as a large ensuite bathroom with a bath!
They stayed with
us two nights and during that time, God began to deal with me over some judgements I was
starting to make about them. Rob was a business consultant, but told Kees he had not “worked”
for 10 years! In my opinion, if you didn’t work hard to make a living, you did not eat and I
am ashamed to admit I wondered if we were being taken advantage of. However, I felt God
wanted me to tell Kees that we were to give them some money and discovered God had shown Kees
the same thing. I went to the supermarket and as I walked around getting my own groceries,
the Lord was showing me items I needed to put in my trolley to give to them!! This was not
the norm for Robyn Van Duyn!! But too much had happened to ignore the prompting of the Holy
Spirit and I did not dare disobey in spite of my own misgivings.
After that first
evening we were not able to have any more discussions with Rob and Bianca as we had other
guests and a friend from another city called to visit for the second evening, so I believed
they had come to do what God had told them to do and that was to pray for my healing, which I
had received, and for us to minister to and bless them which we did.
The morning they
left, we had a quick prayer in the hallway and sent them on their way. They were hitch-hiking
so they simply walked away. We also said goodbye to the other guests and were just starting
the cleaning, when the doorbell rang again.
I opened it to
see Rob standing there – alone this time – he had left Bianca minding the bags across and
down the road a bit.
He told me he
felt there was unfinished business and could he come in. With more than a smidgeon of
apprehension, I invited him in and we all sat down in our
lounge.
What he had to
say wouldn’t take long he told us and he then proceeded to “go down the line” exactly where
Kees was at in his life! My husband is a painter and decorator and desperate to retire now
aged 67. The long hard days of labouring - up and down ladders and physical work has taken
its toll and he feels his painting days have come to an end. But what to do? We felt we had
reached a cross-roads in our lives – the only way we could stay in this place, was/is to
continue to work the B&B, but during the off-season it is not enough to make us a living.
We have and had been for a long time seeking the Lord for His direction for our lives.
Rob asked for
paper and pen and began to outline a simple business plan but not according to the world
system, but according to the Kingdom of God! This was how he now lived his life and was part
of what he did on his travels helping people to see how they could live in God’s economy as
part of His kingdom here on earth!
Tears flowed as
I realised that this angelic visitation, divinely appointed by the Lord Himself, was not only
about my healing, but about a far higher realm in a far greater scheme of things.
Rob spoke of
“investing” in the kingdom of God, sowing and reaping 30, 60 and 100 fold and the difference
between being self-employed and being in business, making money our servant and not our god.
He told us we needed to tell the Lord what we really wanted and begin to thank Him for the
resources He has given us. He left us with
the plan and a desire to know “how” we could begin to change our
lives.
A few days later
I phoned my cousin, Glenda, in Southland to tell her all that happened and amidst gasps of
amazement, she told me “You need the Book!”
“What Book?” I
asked and she proceeded to tell me of the amazing story; miracles and the extraordinary faith
walk of an ordinary man from Sweden.
And so I
received her copy of “Business Unlimited” by J. Gunnar Olson.
It is difficult
to put into words how this book has affected our lives. I was deeply affected by the things I
read, and so many current questions were answered, (I had just been reading the book of
Matthew), like Gunnar’s explanation about the fig tree; that the kingdom of God is a ‘now’
experience; that business can and does happen according to a different “code of ethics” with
God at the helm and the relationship of work to a donkey!
The Holy Spirit
was touching me like I have never before experienced and I couldn’t wait for a “shipment” I
had requested from Wayne Keith to arrive so my husband could read it and we could discuss
together the gems and nuggets Gunnar has written about, which, I believe are so vital and
relevant to not only where we are at in our lives but to everyone and anyone serious about
their Christian walk. (We have given away nine books to
friends.)
Kees, who is not
really a reader, devoured “the book” and became as excited as I and we knew this was another
step of our journey God was revealing to us.
We are still
processing the information and the book sits by our bed and we use it like a manual,
prayerfully referring to it for advice on how to properly conduct our business, and as we
prayerfully seek the Lord as to what to do next. (We each have our own
copy!)
We prayed
Gunnar’s prayer, dedicating our B&B to the Lord and have asked Him to show us how to
conduct our business according to His Heavenly principles.
Although we
don’t really know what we are doing, I am feeling prompted to consult the Holy Spirit as our
primary business advisor. That is going to mean discipline, seeking His wisdom, and the
courage to be totally obedient, but by the grace of God and down to a little book called
Business Unlimited we know like Gunnar, that God is the ultimate Chief Executive Officer. We
are living in the last days and believe that now is the time to be ensuring we have excess oil in our lamps and to be “about our Father’s
business.”
There are many
profound statements written in Business Unlimited but the one that I believe sums up
everything Gunnar has written about and really the whole essence of Christianity is one of
Gunnar’s own interpretations of scripture –
“… there is a direct relationship between our obedience and the
manifestation of the authority of Jesus Christ in our words and our deeds. If we live in
disobedience our words are null and void, but if we walk in obedience, acting through the Holy Spirit, by faith, then there’s authority in the name of Jesus. However, it’s not just
faith – our faith needs to be motivated by
love.” – J. Gunnar Olson
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