“I Saw God!”
Those were the words I said as the doctors tried to wake me up from the anesthesia on July 9th, 2021. I was there for a follow-up Endoscopy. A simple procedure I had before. I wasn’t awake to see their reaction the first time I said those word, but I’m sure they left a shock in the room.
I said it again as I came to and looked into my doctor’s face… “I saw God”, I said. Then I began to sob. I was overwhelmed. Something had happened and I knew beyond doubt that I had been in the presence of God.
Imagine the brightest light you’ve ever seen, shining all around you. You close your eyes and you still see it. You cover your eyes and you still see it. That’s all I saw. I didn’t see Heaven. I didn’t see God’s face. But I was in His presence. I saw light and I knew my eyes were closed and my hands were covering my eyes. I knew it was God that was with me and He was talking to me. I was completely humbled and completely overwhelmed. The next thing I knew, I was looking into the face of my doctor. Sadly, after coming to, I couldn’t remember anything God had said to me.
I immediately started witnessing to the doctor. Through my sobs, I choked out the words to her, “I don’t mean to offend you and I have no idea what you believe, but I - saw - God. I feel such a heaviness, I have to share with you. I’m a Christian. I follow Jesus. I wrote a book about my spiritual journey and I’d really like to share with you.”
She walked away. I thought for a moment, “Oof - door closed.” But about thirty-seconds later, she returned with a box of tissue.
She leaned towards me and in a low voice she said, “I believe in a higher power and we’re going to leave it at that. But (she paused) you’re welcome to send me a copy of your book.”
Thank you, Jesus! That door flew wide open again.
She quickly shoved papers into my hands and said she wanted to see me again soon – something about another test with liquid and X-ray and possible surgery, and off she went.
I turned to the nurse who was hurriedly trying to get the IV out of my hand. She looked nervous. I said to her, “I saw God.” She responded, “Yep, that’s what you told the Anesthesiologist when she was trying to wake you up.”
Overwhelmed and still crying, I asked her, “Did something happen to me?”
She looked over both shoulders, leaned in close to me and said, “They couldn’t get you to wake up. Your blood oxygen dropped really low.”
I responded, “What does that mean?” But she didn’t answer me. She just finished removing the IV and handed me my bag and told me to get dressed and pulled the curtain shut as she left.
As quickly as I had slipped on my T-shirt (literally less than a minute), she knocked and said, “You ready?” I was, so she opened the curtain and there she was with the wheelchair.
I was shaking all over as I made my way to the wheelchair. I said to her, “I think I’d feel better if I just walked.” She said “Nope – I’m going to push you out. Your son is waiting.”
When we got to the car, I stood up and stumbled. As she caught my arm, she said, “That’s why I didn’t let you walk. Besides, you were saying crazy things in there.” (My son heard her say this.)
As I climbed into the car, I said to my son, “I saw God.” I was still crying. I turned and the nurse was gone, pushing the chair back into the building. From the time I was fully conscious to the time she had me in the car, it wasn’t more than 10 minutes.
As my son and I pieced things together, it had been an hour from the time they called and said, “The procedure is over, we’re going to wake her up now. The doctor will call you with an update and we’ll let you know when to pull around.”, to when they called and said, “Pull your car around, we’re bringing her out.” The doctor never called him with an update. So, it was an hour (based on my son’s phone) and I had only been awake 10 minutes at best, that means it had taken them up to 45 minutes to wake me up. But they didn’t tell me anything, except what the nurse whispered to me.
As we drove away, God put it on my heart to reach out to my friend Terri. I knew if I were losing it, she’d tell me. So, I texted Terri, “Can you talk?” She responded, “I’ll call you in a minute.” She did. I was crying as I told her, “I saw God.” She immediately began to cry. She said she thought I was going to tell her I had cancer. But she too became overwhelmed. We talked for a couple of minutes and she mentioned when Daniel encountered God, he too was overwhelmed. All he could do was fall before Him. She then began to pray for me. As she wrapped up, I saw my son wiping tears from his eyes. The presence of God was so heavy.
My son stopped to treat me to breakfast on our way home. I tried to eat but kept choking from crying so much. I couldn’t even taste the food anyways. I felt like people around me were staring. I was still so overwhelmed. I was shaking all over. Everything seemed surreal.
After we got home, I laid on the couch but was shaking so much, it felt like I was convulsing. He covered me up with blankets. I remained there for 5-6 hours. I dozed off and on. I told my son, it felt like someone had sat on my chest. My chest and both arms hurt so bad.
After laying there, miserable, for hours, I got up and stumbled out to my patio and sat down in my chair and attempted to drink some water. Right then a cloud moved and the warmth of the sun hit me. I again started sobbing. I knew it was God that moved the cloud to the side and His warmth just flooded over me. Immediately, the shaking began to subside.
I thanked God over and over for being with me, for His light shining on me during the whole process. As I took sips of water, I began to thank God for the Water of Life – my Jesus!
I have no idea what happened to me. I’ve asked God, “Did I die? Were you just telling me it’s not my time?”
The rest of the day, I felt like I had been hit with a Mack truck. But I am alive. I’ve been praying the past days that God would open my memory so I could know what He had said to me.
Every day since, I’ve not felt well – in all truth, I’ve felt sick. I’ve not slept a full night. My friend, Missy Z sent me the verse Daniel 8:27 “Then I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for several days.” That is the same reference Terri had made and exactly how I’ve felt these past few days. I don’t count myself equal with Daniel, but I know how he felt.
Even now as I write this, I don’t recall God’s words He spoke to me. I am still overwhelmed. In my spirit, I know He’ll reveal all in due time.
What do I recall? God's presence...and that is enough.
God bless,
Allison Pelphrey
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