I was six, maybe seven years old. Sprawled out on our thick living room carpet, I stared up at our family’s television. My mom was watching The 700 Club on CBN, and that was just fine with me. I actually really liked it. They told stories of people being healed and God transforming lives—and it was all real. I thought all the supernatural stuff was cool. Plus, Pat Robertson looked like everybody’s grandpa. He had that warm smile and those kind eyes. I was fixated.
There were probably many nights Christian television programs played in the background of our home, but this night was different. Toward the end of the broadcast, Pat was praying for people, and he received a word of knowledge from the Lord about someone who had a problem in their head. He said that God was going to heal it. “If that’s you, put your hand on your forehead,” he told viewers, “and you’ll feel it get very warm. God is healing you now.”
Well, I didn’t have any problems with my head that I knew of, but I wanted to feel heat from heaven—I mean, who doesn’t want a touch from God?—so I closed my eyes, and I slowly moved one of my hands from under my chin up to my forehead. I didn’t necessarily want my mom to see what I was doing. Sure enough, my forehead was hot to the touch, as though I had a high fever from being sick. I turned around to my mom, who was sitting on the couch behind me, and I told her, “Mom, my forehead is hot!”
What I didn’t know was that I actually did have a problem in my head. I had been born cross-eyed with severe astigmatism, and I had received surgery at nine months of age to realign my eyes. However, since that time one of my eyes had begun to drift, and I was scheduled to have another surgery soon. I didn’t know this, of course. My parents were planning on keeping it to themselves for as long as possible, so as not to scare me.
The next morning, my mom, bristling with expectant faith, took me to the eye doctor to have my eyes checked. Sure enough, my wandering eye had returned to its correct position—all on its own, or rather by the hand of the Lord. While I continued to need glasses, I no longer needed eye surgery. God had healed me!
I was reminded of this story from my childhood last week when I heard that Pat Robertson had gone home to be with the Lord. I never met the man in person, though my mom did call The 700 Club switchboard the next night, and Pat told the world about the “young Long Island boy” whose eyes had been healed. I never got to thank the man for allowing God to use him in that way. One day, I will. It just won’t be on this side of glory.
Over this past weekend, as I watched video footage from Pat’s storied career, I couldn’t help but notice how much our country has changed over the last few decades. It’s hardly recognizable as the same place. We have entered a very dark season as a nation. God is mocked openly like never before. Our cities have abandoned the rule of law and are now largely overrun with crime and decay. Sexual sin is “affirmed” and lauded, even in the church. Corruption runs through nearly every vein of government. Our economy is built upon piles of printed money that we all know is worthless. Our standing in the world has been diminished so that our enemies no longer fear us and our allies no longer trust us.
I was also struck by the fact that men like Pat Robertson are in short supply these days. It’s getting difficult to find people who will stand up for the truth of God’s Word in an increasingly hostile culture. The folks who will pray over the airwaves for the lost and the sick are few and far between. We need men and women so unconcerned with platform they will give God the glory for every success and every victory. Most of all, we need people who will listen to the voice of God and do whatever He commands, no matter how foolish those commands might seem to the world.
I’m thankful that, even with all of the deconstruction and scandal in much of the church today, there is a remnant standing strong. But in the darkness, we need all of God’s people to shine the light. I believe it is God’s will to revive America. I believe the days ahead of us will be brighter than the days behind us. I believe there is coming a time when nearly everyone will have a healing story or a miracle encounter. But God’s people need to be aligned with God’s will and purpose in our day. Now is the time to kneel before Him in worship—and stand firm everywhere else.
Pat Robertson wasn’t a perfect man. I’m pretty sure he would have been the first one to tell you that. But he loved the Lord, and he made his relationship with Jesus the bedrock of his life. He leaned on the truth of God’s word in everything he did. And he obeyed the Lord to do things that seemed foolish to the world at the time—like starting a television network with three dollars in his pocket! I have no doubt that as he entered the gates of heaven, he heard these words: “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:23). If our world had more people like Pat Robertson, it would be a much brighter place right now.
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15–16
Pages of Joy // John Greco 
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