Anna Munsterteiger's story - God is on the move at her job
In September of last year (2023), Anna's shift as a hospital nurse became a mission field.
On this particular day, she felt especially confident in the Holy Spirit's power to push back all the darkness she was going to be walking into. When she got to work, she found she had only one patient for the day: a withdrawn and depressed man.
Anna asked God if there was something she was supposed to say to this man. As she wrestled, the patient woke up. Anna introduced herself to him, and the patient told her he thought that day was going to "be his last day." He was convinced that he was going to die in his surgery scheduled for the next day. At that comment, Anna asked him if he had a faith, or if he believed in God at all. He said he did not. He told her he had already died once before, and when he did, "God wasn't there."
In his chart, Anna saw that he had, in fact, died before, needing CPR and 23 shocks in order to get his heart back into a normal rhythm. The patient explained that when he'd died, he'd found himself in a room that had floor-to-ceiling purple curtains on one side, but that there was no one there. The room was completely empty.
Prior to her shift that morning, Anna had been reading about the tabernacle in the Exodus 26. She explained to the patient as much of what she remembered reading. She told him about how God was on the other side of the curtain in the tabernacle (in the most Holy place). She shared that when Jesus came in the New Testament, He died and tore the curtain, creating the opportunity to go to the other side of it - where God is! She pulled up a rendering of the tabernacle curtains on Google and asked him if that was what the curtains had looked like. He said yes.
Throughout that day, Anna had many more conversations with her patient about God and death, and she was able to tell him how much God loved him.
"I felt more strongly than I had in a long time just how much God loved him. It seemed so clear and obvious to me that God was orchestrating all the different details of the day. There were so many details that just paved the way for God to show up in power!"
During the course of the day, the patient mentioned the fact that he was really feeling like he didn't want to live anymore, that he was just ready to give up on it all.
"I told him with such confidence that it was only because God loved him an insane amount that God chose to make me his nurse for the day, and that He had orchestrated all the other details just as perfectly as well. It was a moment for me of trusting that God loved this patient more than I did, and that His plans and way actually are higher than mine!"
The shift didn't end with any "come-to-Jesus" prayer, but Anna left feeling so sure of God's longing to be with this patient and a knowledge that He has other ways of drawing this man to Himself.
"It felt like the greatest privilege by the end of the day to be able to partner with God in the things that He was already doing."
Will you pray for Anna's patient? Thank you, Jesus, for giving Anna your Spirit and the confidence to share the Good News of your love. We pray for confidence in your Holy Spirit within us, giving us all power to share truth with those around us.
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