I was scheduled to preach on Abraham's offering Isaac as a sacrifice. It was a difficult passage. I lay awake Friday evening thinking about it as everyone else in the house slept. Suddenly, I heard a noise in Dave's room.

I hurried and turned on the light. Dave's eyes had rolled back in his head and his body was in convulsions. I yelled for Tex and we held him, not knowing what to do. We prayed and wept as we rushed him to the hospital. The doctor on duty was a man I'd been discipling. He found one side of Dave partially paralyzed.

He admitted him and stayed up with me most of the night. We prayed together. I told him what I was to preach Sunday and that I didn't think I could do it.

Abraham had waited so many years for a son and then God had provided one miraculously. Abraham must have been proud of that boy. When he introduced Isaac to his friends, he would have said, "This is my boy that I told you about, my miracle-child. God gave him to Sarah and me. He's the greatest blessing of our lives."

It's possible, however, that Abraham became attached to the blessing rather than the Blesser. And the Blesser said, "Give up the blessing." When Abraham became willing to do that, God sent revival to Abraham. Not only did God Himself provide a sacrifice, but He also fulfilled His promises through Isaac.

As a parent, I know that Abraham went through tremendous agony. He had to be willing to give up that precious son. That was precisely where God was bringing me. Revival is often born from the seeds of suffering.

For the next year and a half, my wife and I walked through one of the most difficult periods of our lives. The doctors put Dave on medication, and he would do well for a brief period. Then he would react to the medication. The doctors would change the medication, and the same thing happened again and again. While we were struggling with the health of our son, God blessed our church. We experienced phenomenal growth. On the other hand, God seemed silent when we sought Him in prayer for our son.

We asked God to heal him; there was no healing. Eventually, we had to return to the United States for medical treatment. After two years in the States, God had restored our son through medical doctors. I was left with a dilemma. My heart broke for Europe. I desired to reach its masses for Christ. But now there was a fear in my heart, the fear of losing one of the most precious blessings of my life, my only son.

I attended an evangelism conference in Texas and sat alone in the top row of the huge auditorium. I wanted God to speak to my heart. I needed to hear from Him. It was now three years since I'd ministered in Europe. I wanted so badly to be there, but still I struggled with fear.

As I sat there, a long-time friend, Arthur Blessit, walked in and sat in front of me. We talked a long time. Finally, he told me, "Sammy, you have a ministry to the masses. Jesus died for the masses. You must give your son back to God. You must give this fear to God."

I left knowing that God had spoken to me. The next day, I ran into Leo Humphrey, the man who had taught me to win souls to Jesus many years earlier. I hadn't seen him in years, but I'd heard that his son, Kelly, was dying of cancer.

I asked Leo how he was coping.

"Sammy, I've gone through the gamut of emotions. I felt guilt. I thought maybe there was some sin I had committed that had caused Kelly's sickness. I prayed for his healing. But he became worse.

"But, Sammy, I've seen the glory of God in all this. Several nurses have come to know Christ through Kelly's witness. Every time I'm with him, he says, 'Dad, let's pray.' He's so close to Jesus.

"One day I was pacing in front of his hospital room. Kelly called me and said, 'Dad, you're afraid to go to Central America and preach. You're afraid that if you go, I will die. Daddy, you must go.' Sammy, I had to give Kelly back to God that day."

Leo looked at me with an understanding smile. "Sammy, I was with Arthur today. He told me about your son. You must place him in God's hand. Trust him to God."

I knew what I had to do. I prayed and gave the greatest blessing of my life back to God. I gave Him my family - my wife, my son and my daughter. The moment I did that, I knew I had to return to Romania. I'd promised that I'd return. But fear of losing my son had captured me. Now I was free. I knew the Father loved my family more than I did. I had to trust Him, no matter what.

Later that day, I gathered the family and told them what had happened. We prayed, and each of us gave the other back to the Lord. We began to make preparations to return to Romania.