As a nurse, I work with a lot of people, and now that I’m in the float pool, I work with different people on different nursing units every day. While it has its upsides and downsides, I’ve met some really cool people over the years, and while I can count the number of patients I have ended up knowing long-term on one hand, the few who have chosen to stay connected with me after their hospital stay have become treasured relationships.

Recently, I was working with a woman who, at the end of our day together, let me pray for her, and then she told me a story. When she was eleven years old, her family was having difficulty. Her mom and dad were getting a divorce, and her life hadn’t been that rosy up to that point either. Well, things were about to change.

One night, she remembered this large being descending through the ceiling and speaking to her. She couldn’t see his figure clearly, but she was very clear on one point—this figure was God and He had come to visit her. The visitation wasn’t long, but God spoke a message to her, saying:

“You’re going to go through problems, but it’s all gonna be okay. Take heart.”

This eleven year-old probably didn’t realize that this visitor was practically quoting what He said to the disciples in John 16:33, saying ““I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

In the subsequent years, that family went through major turmoil. The domestic violence and abuse came to a head one day and the mother had planned to murder the father to make it all stop. A pastor stopped by the house, something he never did, saying “The Lord would not let me alone until I came to see you today.” As a result the mother did not harm the father in spite of his many transgressions against the family, and God spared both his life and protected the children from what would otherwise have thrown them into the foster system.

As this woman told me this story of how God visited her and spoke to her words of peace and strength so many years before, she was still very excited about it. After all, it’s not every day that one has a visitation from God, and it’s not every day that you can share it with a stranger and have them not just believe you, but share in your excitement.

Furthermore, that message is a good message for us all to remember, regardless of the situations we find ourselves in. Take heart! He has overcome the world!