Overcoming Deadly Challenges

Last updated on August 29, 2025

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Mark 16:15-18 (NIV)

I sat on the floor in the kitchen with my friend.

Timmy was the son of my mother’s friend. We could hear our mommies talking from the living room. My mommy and Timmy’s mommy could talk for hours. Someday, if I were like my mommy, I probably would, too.

After a while, as boys often do, Timmy got curious. Of course, I didn’t have a brother, and my father left us. I had no memory of him. So, I didn’t know much about boys—except I knew they weren’t girls. I guess God had something to do with that.

Timmy was a good boy and nice to me. We liked sitting on the floor in the kitchen.

Timmy was bored, so he opened the kitchen cabinet underneath the sink. I’d never looked underneath the kitchen sink. Interesting boxes and containers were in there. I had no idea what they were.

Timmy looked at the boxes curiously and pulled some of them out. They were all different sizes and colors. Some were green, some were blue, some were red, some were yellow, some were transparent glass. I couldn’t read. I didn’t know what the words said on the containers. I was surprised there was such an assortment of stuff underneath the kitchen—things I could play with.

I helped Timmy pull out more containers so we could play with them. I thought about making a family with them. The big containers could be the mothers and fathers, and the small containers could be all their children.

Timmy, however, had other ideas. He was curious about what was inside the containers. He opened one of them and placed his nose over the opening. “Yuck,” he said, and screwed the top back on it.

If it smelled bad, I didn’t want to smell it.

Timmy pulled out another black and yellow container. This one was different. It had a scary face on the outside. The head had no hair, two big yellow eyes, a yellow nose, and a toothy yellow and black smile. A word in big, bold letters was beneath it, but I didn’t know how to read.

My friend opened the container, and his eyes popped out. “This smells good,” he said. “It smells like Coke. I think it must be Coke.”

“I want to smell it.”

Timmy handed me the container, and I put my nose over the opening and inhaled. “It does smell like Coke,” I said. “It must be Coke.”

“Why don’t we have some Coke?” Timmy said.

I handed the container back to Timmy. “You go first.”

My friend shook his head. “No, you go first.”

I smelled it again. What would Mommy think if I stole some Coke? “We have to keep it a secret,” I said, “or Mommy might get mad at me.”

Timmy smiled. “I promise, I won’t tell your mother.”

I thought about how much I liked Coke. Mommy didn’t buy Coke much because we didn’t have any money. She would never know I stole it from underneath the sink if I drank only a little. I had never even looked underneath the sink. She knew I didn’t do stuff like that. But it smelled so good, and I loved Coke.

I lifted the container to my mouth and drank some. It tasted so good, so I drank some more. And some more.

Suddenly, I saw my mother in the kitchen, and she screamed. I knew she wouldn’t be happy that I stole some Coke from underneath the sink, but I didn’t think she would be this upset.

She grabbed the container from me and asked, “How much did you drink?”

Timmy’s mother appeared in the kitchen. Everything went crazy right then, and my stomach started hurting. I don’t remember anything else after that except that we went somewhere in a hurry, and a man in a white coat talked to my mother. I went to sleep. I knew I had done something terrible, but I didn’t realize how bad it was until later.*

Years later, Mother told me about this accident when I was old enough to understand the seriousness of what I’d done.

I didn’t drink Coke. I drank poison. The poison should have killed me. I shouldn’t be alive today to write Christian books or share the Gospel. I should have died.

The doctor pumped out my stomach to get rid of the poison before it ate away the lining of my stomach. The doctor told my mother to be prepared for me to die. There was no cure or remedy for someone swallowing poison.

But the doctor made a miraculous discovery. The lining of my stomach had not been damaged for one reason: I had eaten ice cream for lunch, and the ice cream coated my stomach and protected me.

Or I could say, God told my mother to give me ice cream after lunch because He knew I would drink poison, and He wanted to save my life. Without the ice cream’s protection, I would have died.

I listened to Mark 16 today in my quiet time. It is the last chapter in the Gospel of Mark, following Jesus’ death and resurrection. These were the final words Jesus uttered before He ascended into heaven. Mark is the oldest of the four Gospels. I’m aware that some theologians think this last chapter of Mark was added later.

Maybe God added it later because of its importance. Or perhaps it’s just that some people can’t accept the controversial nature of what the words say. But as I listened to the verse today, and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; I felt God telling me: “Lorilyn, if you had died from that deadly poison when you were two years old, you would not be here to fulfill the Great Commission I have given you. I saved you for a purpose.”

In my heart, I hear the Holy Spirit encouraging me to share the Gospel, reach the lost through my words, never give up, give in, or compromise. No matter what, persevere and finish well.

As I work on my next book, Eighth Dimension – Frequency. God reminds me of this eternal truth.

Whatever God has called you to do, even when it’s hard, do it; nothing can stop you if you trust and love Jesus Christ. That is what I tell myself. If God is for me, who can be against me? (Romans 8:31).

Mark wrote what God said to him:

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.

I don’t speak in tongues, I don’t drive out demons, and I don’t pick up snakes. But I did drink poison, and I lived.

Overcoming deadly challenges is an act of God. Never doubt God’s power in your life. You may not understand what God is doing now, but I know from my own life that sometimes we don’t appreciate God’s Good Works until later. We may not know until we get to heaven. Keep on, keeping on. Never give up; God will give you the power and strength to finish what He has called you to do.

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