With the Almighty, Nothing Succeeds Like Failure

My new life in Christ. Finally I am happy to live up to my name Shelemiah, the priest who was made treasurer of the treasures" (Nehemiah 13:13). The name means "friend of God." One business in accounting has sustained me for fifty-one years.

After one of five surgeries, life changed. I felt the presence of hands one the left and on the right, but I couldn't see who they were. They began to escort me from my bed. While leaving, I looked back at my bed and saw my body yet on the bed, while being carried upward toward a light and the darkness felt like link cotton. All of a sudden my escort stopped. Seven sheets of my life came before me. Being rebellious, I remember how I walked away from the call of God.

All of a sudden, my escort dropped me. While falling, I heard crying, wailing, and all sorts of sounds. The longer I fell, the hotter it got; it felt like I was inside a microwave. While in this trance, I touched my left arm to see if it would fall apart. Here I began to plead for my life, "Please don't let me fall any farther." The Scriptures came to me of a man who went to a wedding who did not have his wedding garments on (Matthew 22:11–14). While pleading, I promise the Lord, "I WILL SAY WHAT YOU WANT ME TO SAY. I WILL DO WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO. I WILL PREACH WHAT YOU WANT ME TO PREACH."

I CAN TRULY SAY, WITH THE ALMIGHTY, NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE FAILURE.