As our nurse wrapped up her normal appointment visit with the young woman sitting in front of her, the conversation casually transitioned to a conversation about faith.
At first, Julie* was quiet and hesitant to share the details about what brought her in for our medical services. But soon her anxiety lessened, and the exam room became her safe space to unpack her trauma. With tears, Julie expressed her desire to find a path back to God. The nurse kindly requested permission to pray with her, offered her a devotional and Bible, and then extended an invitation for her to join her at church on Sunday.
Each year our team has the incredible privilege of engaging in more than 4,000 spiritual conversations through our medical clinic appointments but, many times, we never know the outcomes of these divine moments with our patients.
In John 3, we read about a spiritual conversation that Jesus had with a seeker named Nicodemus who came to him under the cover of night. Nicodemus was inquisitive, somewhat confused, and we see no commitment or promise from him to follow Jesus. And honestly, we don’t even see Jesus asking for any commitment from him during this first intriguing encounter.
But the narrative doesn’t end there. In John 7, Nicodemus defends Jesus against Pharisees on the hunt to arrest him and, after Jesus’ death, Nicodemus goes with other Christians to gather Jesus’ body for burial—a courageous act of defiance against his fellow religious leaders. And it all began with a conversation years earlier that seemed to go nowhere…
May we never underestimate the power of a spiritual conversation, whether in our clinic, in a classroom, at an adult club, or sitting in a coffee shop.
And, by the way, after that appointment at our medical clinic, Julie read her devotional, went to church, and today is walking with the Lord – in her words, “If I hadn’t come to your clinic, I’m not sure I would have found the Jesus I now know is real.”
