Some may call this a story of suffering.

Others may call it a leap-of-faith

adventure. But for me, it was a knee bender. Even now when I read it, God speaks

humility and hope to me, and I bow again. I don‟t know what‟s going on in your life or

what‟s to come. But I‟m praying that God‟s grace in these pages will overwhelm you and

you will bow with me. And I‟m praying that you will be able to say what Martha said

when her brother, Lazarus, was dead: “Yes, Lord, I believe” (John 11:27). Then, like

Martha, watch what happens next.

Knees down,

Melody
MORE GREAT

by

Melody Raines
Copyright © 2011 Melody Raines

All rights reserved

Edited by Jennifer Hunt, Gayle Norris and Brett Westervelt

Names have been changed to protect the identities of the persons involved.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW
INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International
Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Some Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000,
2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Other Scripture taken from THE NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright
© 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman
Foundation. Used by Permission.
To my parents,

my safety net
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................7

CHAPTER 1 HERE AM I ................................................................................................10

CHAPTER 2 CITY LIMITS .............................................................................................17

CHAPTER 3 THE FAST LANE ......................................................................................29

CHAPTER 4 SKYDIVING ..............................................................................................43

CHAPTER 5 YOU ARE HERE .......................................................................................61

CHAPTER 6 NOT A GOD ...............................................................................................70

CHAPTER 7 HOME.........................................................................................................82

CHAPTER 8 I AM............................................................................................................91

CHAPTER 9 UNFAILING LOVE .................................................................................107

CHAPTER 10 UNFOLDING GRACE ..........................................................................120

CHAPTER 11 LIFE WITH LEFTOVERS .....................................................................131

CHAPTER 12 REDEEMER ...........................................................................................154

CHAPTER 13 GREATER ..............................................................................................163

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................175

MORE GREAT ORGANIZATIONS ..............................................................................177

 INTRODUCTION

Instead of saying a blessing over our meal, Mrs. Fehmer wanted us to sing one. “Let‟s

sing „Mighty God!‟” she requested. Because I was in Germany, I thought she meant Martin

Luther‟s “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” I started singing it to clarify. I was wrong.

“Nein, nein, nein.” She stopped me and hummed a few notes of another hymn.

“Ja! Ja! Ja!” I recognized the tune. So we all sang in our preferred languages:

O Lord my God, Du großer Gott

when I in awesome wonder Wenn ich die Welt betrachte
Consider all Die du geschaffen
the worlds thy hands have made, Durch dein Allmachtswort
I see the stars, Wenn ich auf alle
I hear the rolling thunder, Jene Wesen achte
Thy power throughout Die du regierst
the universe displayed: Und nährest fort und fort

Then sings my soul, Dann jauchzt mein Herz

my Savior God, to thee: Dir, großer Herrscher, zu
How great thou art! Wie groß bist du
How great thou art! Wie groß bist du
Then sings my soul, Dann jauchzt mein Herz
my Savior God, to thee: Dir, großer Herrscher, zu
How great thou art! Wie groß bist du
How great thou art! Wie groß bist du1

Awesome wonder consumed us. Beautiful silence was our “Amen.”

1
“How Great Thou Art” Words: Stuart K. Hine. Words & Music © 1949 and 1953 by The Stuart Hine Trust. All
rights in the U.S.A. except print rights administered by EMI CMG. U.S.A. print rights administered by Hope
Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 60188. Used by permission. German translation by Manfred von Glehn,
“Wie groß bist Du.”

7
 Once we caught our breaths, the Fehmers told stories of how great God had been to them.

Sounding like a Steven Spielberg movie, they began with the Third Reich.

As a 15-year-old, Mr. Fehmer escaped the 1945 Allied attacks on foot. He and his

classmates walked from Berlin to Poland and then to Czechoslovakia. After the war, they walked

back. With a little bribe for the Russians and a lot of help from strangers, the young Mr. Fehmer

returned to his home—one of the few still standing. Except for his oldest brother, who had been

drafted into the army, the whole family had survived.

A generation later, the Berlin Wall separated Mrs. Fehmer‟s cousin from his fiancée. The

Fehmers paid for this young man to rescue his fiancée through a tunnel. There was a mole. The

young lovers were caught and imprisoned.

But the world was praying. Even in the Communist East, people prayed for the wall to

fall. They gathered in Leipzig every Monday night for a ten-year prayer vigil. The Church on

both sides of the wall prayed and waited for God to act.

He did. On November 9, 1989, God set the captives free. For the first time in decades,

East Germans traveled without restrictions. They poured through the gates of the wall. Then they

attacked it with hammers and chisels and tore it down.

Mr. Fehmer now owns a piece of the wall that stood only one kilometer from his home.

Its inscription reads:

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.2

2
Luke 1:51-52

8
Mr. Fehmer read the verses in German and then loosely translated them: “God is a mighty God,”

or “God is the Big Boss of the history.”

In her non-native English, Mrs. Fehmer added her thoughts about the fall of the wall. “It

was a miracle. We prayed for this, but we don‟t believe it.” And then she said it. She summed up

their story and all of history in one sentence, “God was more great than we believed.”

More great. My soul sang “How Great Thou Art” with the Fehmers in Berlin that day, but

I had no idea how much I would need a great God in the days ahead. The time comes when we

have to decide if we believe all those songs we sing about God. This is my time. And He is more

great than I believed.

Read the story for free at moregreat.com.