The story of a teenager who collapsed in the ice in 2015 was under the water for 15 minutes, and clinically died for over an hour before miraculously resurrecting.
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The story of John Smith was extremely persuasive and became a feature film called “Breakthrough,” a 2019 drama starring Chrissy Metz of “This Is Us” fame. Jason Noble, a real-life preacher who served Smith’s family during the trials, recently reflected on the impact of the story almost ten years later.
“When I look back, it’s the story of modern-day Lazarus,” he said. “John – he was 15 years old – collapsed in the ice in St. Louis, dead, 15 minutes, 1 hour and 15 minutes (minutes).”
However, while Smith was dying in the hospital, his mother mostly turned and called for the life of his son.
“His mother (Joyce) came in and prayed, ‘Holy Spirit, I will bring my son back to life,'” Noble said. “And it was much more animated than that, and much more intense than that, and at that moment, all the machines came to life and John came back to life.”
Smith coded three or four more times, so the battle continued from there, but God continued to appear.
Even after miraculous prayers, the doctor said there was a 99% chance that Smith would not be able to live all night.
But despite the severe damage he had in his teenage lungs and body unfolding, his family, friends and Noble were unwilling to give up.
“We prayed. There’s far more to the story than what was told in the film,” Noble said. “We prayed and took a group of pastors into the room. We had no intention of letting go of John, so we started praying for him.”
The preacher also made another surprising claim. He said he saw an angel in the “floor-to-ceiling” room as the group prayed for Smith.
And those prayers were rewarded. Not only did Smith wake up, he healed completely, later married, and is now a father.
Noble said the miracle he witnessed Smith around him taught him a powerful lesson about life and the Lord.
“One of the things I’ve learned is that you have to position yourself to work with God to see these miracles happen,” he said. “We are conduits.”
Noble said, “I think we play a really important role in seeing miracles happen. If you walk through doubt, beliefs, fears, and all of them, I think it can literally stop God’s miracle-making power in our lives.”
Ultimately, the outcome is not human-dependent, but he believes that the Lord is affiliated with his followers. In the end, many healings do not unfold on this side of eternity, but Noble said people can enjoy joy in the fact that “the greatest miracle is salvation.”
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