By: The Rev. Cathie P. Young
Her name was Barbara. She had suffered from cancer. She died moments after I administered Last Rites with her husband and children gathered around her hospital bed. After the family left, in the quiet of her hospital room, I stood at her bedside and asked the Lord to raise her up again. I wanted a Tabitha moment.
Tabitha in Acts 9 was a Christian woman known for her devotion in serving others. Like Barbara, Tabitha grew ill and died. Peter was in town, so Tabitha’s friends sent for him. He knelt at her bedside and prayed. Then he told her body to rise up. And rise, Tabitha did! She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up! And Peter gave her his hand and helped her to stand.
What does this Tabitha moment teach us? Certainly, it teaches us of the power of God’s Spirit. He alone has power and authority over life and death. It also teaches us that such moments of healing, even raising the dead to life again, are part of the miraculous signs God uses to bring others to Christ. In response to Tabitha’s moment, we read in Acts 9 that “many believed in the Lord.”
And Tabitha also teaches us the value of life. As is shown in the story of Lazarus, sometimes life is so precious, death must give up its grasp, and the dead must come back to life, living more years on earth before dying once again. Now, Barbara did not come back to life that day I prayed in her hospital room. But I am not embarrassed to tell the story because I believe in the value of life. So I will continue to pray at the bedside of those who have died that they would rise up.
Who knows? Maybe someday my prayer will be granted, and I’ll be witness to a Tabitha moment.