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The Evangelist
By Nancy Canwell
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| Evangelist David Snyder |
The church is packed as I find a seat in the crowd. We have gathered to hear the evangelist speak. Tonight, we’ve been told, is a special night because he’s going to tell his conversion story. I’ve brought a pencil and paper so I can write it all down—I don’t want to forget what I’m about to hear. The lights dim as a middle-aged man, Bible in hand, steps to the microphone:
“Sometimes you have to lose everything to gain something. I used to think I had everything I needed to be happy. My younger years were spent on a cattle ranch. Later I connected with my older brother and we did music together in some smaller nightclubs. As the years went by I worked very hard and ended up overseeing a renovation and construction crew. I made friends with many prominent people, played golf with the mayor and partied with lawyers and radio personalities. I felt I had arrived. But returning from a party one night, as I pulled our expensive car into the driveway, something felt very different. I turned to my wife and said, ‘Irene, I don’t know what it is, but something isn’t right. Something is wrong with my life. Something is missing.’
“While driving to work the next morning I cursed the world. It had promised me something it couldn’t produce. There was a hole in my soul and nothing was filling it. I lived the next few days with a sense of depression and confusion. Later that week I awakened with a severe pain in my back. I attempted to go to work but it was impossible. The pain grew worse and I was laid up at home for several days.
“One morning as I was getting out of bed the pain was so severe that I fell to my knees and was close to tears. There on my knees, I suddenly remembered how my mother had taught me to pray. The words came out, ‘Okay, God, if you care about me at all, please heal my back pain. In return I’ll serve you forever.’
“So I waited…and do you know what happened? Nothing. It seemed to me that God couldn’t care less about my problem. This made me upset with Him. I immediately began to search the house for a Bible that I knew a relative had left behind. When I found it I remember telling God, ‘All right, God, I’ll give you thirty days. I’m going to read this book of yours and check you out—to see what you’re all about.’
“So I sat down in my favorite chair and began to immerse myself in what God was all about. I read late into the night. I read again when I woke up and even glanced at it while driving to the office. I read during lunch and each night after dinner. My wife was watching me very closely and my kids were wondering what was happening to Dad. There was a change taking place. Jesus was making His way into my heart and I wasn’t trying to stop Him.
Bargaining With God
“Late one night I put my Bible aside, went to my knees and made a ‘bargain’ with God: ‘Lord, I will give you my life if I can reserve the right to change my mind if I don‘t like what you do to me. I don’t want to become weird.’ But I knew in my heart that God never forces Himself on anyone. He lets us choose, even if we make the wrong choice. It was if He was saying, ‘Here’s home if you want it.’
“The next morning I woke up a new man. When I walked into the office I couldn’t keep the good news to myself. I told my friends that I had made the decision to become a Christian. I was rather surprised at the positive response I received. My friends were amazed at the change that had taken place in my life. But even more amazed was my family. My wife, a very loving and kind woman, was a true atheist. At the time she wasn’t at all interested in the new life I was living. And my children watched me strangely as I tossed my cigarettes away, stopped my cursing and spent my evenings reading the Bible.
“One evening, when the time seemed right, I sat my family down in front of the fireplace to explain my new life to them. I shared some scripture and told them about the Jesus I had found. I invited them to search it out for themselves and left it there--no pressure.
“Over several days all my four children accepted Jesus. Praise the Lord! My wife, however, wasn’t about to budge from her views of God and Christianity. I have to smile when I remember how my fourteen-year-old son followed my wife around the house as she was cleaning, passionately sharing the Bible with her. My two daughters also talked to her about Jesus every chance they got.
“Then one memorable night, I was awakened at about two in the morning when my wife reached across the bed and nudged me. ‘David,’ she said softly, ‘I want to pray.’
‘What did you say?’ I asked.
‘I want to pray.’
“I’ll never forget kneeling together by the bed. She prayed silently for a long time. I don’t know what she prayed, but when she got up from her knees, she had become a Christian wife and mother. Excitedly we woke up our children and shared the good news. I built a fire in the fireplace while my wife made hot chocolate. We sat in the family room talking, hugging, laughing, crying and praising God.…”
The evangelist continues speaking, but my eyes fill with tears and I can’t see to write. I put my pencil and paper away. I don‘t really need to keep writing anyway. His story, you see, is already written in my heart. I’ve lived it. The evangelist is my Dad.
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