Betting With God

Can you make a deal with God? Angie Smith wagered a relationship with God in exchange for her dad's health and had to hold up her end of the bargain.

Questions for Discussion and Personal Reflection

  1. Have you ever made a deal with God to get something you wanted?
  2. What value is there in being able to ask questions about God freely?

Well, I've always been an academic. It's sort of the way that I figure out how things work, and when I was in graduate school I made a bet with God. I found out that my dad had been diagnosed with cancer, and the doctors gave him three months to live. I'm a complete daddy's girl, and so of course I was devastated, and basically said to God, if you heal my dad, I'll find out about you, which is kind of ridiculous. But... the night before Christmas, we got a phone call from the doctors, and despite the fact that I had already been home from college, and my dad had helped me figure out the bills and how to take care of my mom when he was gone, the tests said that they couldn't find the cancer anywhere in his body, and, um, he's alive and well today. But as a result of that, I found a local church, and I just said, I don't know how to do this. I don't know who God is, but I think he's speaking to me and I want to listen. So, will you just help me figure it out? And for a year, I took classes there in a Catholic Church, and at the end of it I became confirmed in the Catholic Church. And it was just beautiful because for a year I could raise my hand in a class and ask questions about God, and to this day, I just think it was so sweet of him to woo me in the way that he knew would speak to me the most. And as a result of that, my dad has really started to walk with the Lord as well. So, it was just an incredible - an incredible experience, an amazing way to hear the voice of God and also a good reminder that you shouldn't make a bet with God unless you're ready to lose.