FINDING
MESSIAH

Topics: Conversion; Family; Jesus Christ; Messiah; Prayer; Salvation; Seekers

References: Deuteronomy 18:18; Isaiah 43:18–25; Luke 2:11

Stan Telchin, a successful Jewish businessman, felt betrayed when his daughter, Judy, twenty-one, called home from college to say, “I believe Jesus is the Messiah.”

To prove his daughter wrong, Telchin began an energetic quest for truth. So did Stan’s wife, Ethel, and their other daughter, Ann. When the search created friction between Stan and Ethel, they agreed to pursue their studies independently.

Months later, Stan accepted an invitation to attend a National Convocation of Messianic Jews. He planned to “work the convention” just like any other business, meeting with anyone he thought could help him.

After a series of meetings, Stan lay awake in his dorm room, realizing he had arrived at a point of crisis. If the Bible was true—and he had concluded it was—then he really did believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He also admitted that he believed in the Bible as God’s inspired Word. But he couldn’t quite say, “Jesus is the Messiah.”

He asked his roommate to pray for him. Art obliged, praying simply, “God, give Stan your peace, and resolve his inner conflict.”

The next morning at breakfast, a man at Stan’s table asked him to pray before the meal. Startled by the request, Stan bowed his head and said: “Praised be Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe. I thank you for the fellowship and the friendship at this table. I thank you for what we have learned at this meeting. I ask you now to bless this food, and I do so … in the name of Jesus, the Messiah.”

For a moment, he sat there, amazed at what he had just prayed. The faces of others at the table were suddenly jubilant. “Stan,” said one of them, “you’re a believer!” One by one they got up from their seats and hugged Stan. Several cried with joy.

Stan began to weep too. He wasn’t sure how his wife would take the news, but he called her, blurting out, “Ethel, honey, it’s me. It’s over. I’ve made my decision. Jesus is the Messiah!”

There was a pause on the other line as Stan held his breath. Then his wife said softly, “Thank God! That makes it unanimous. We’ve all been waiting for you.”

Stan’s entire family—his wife and both daughters—had decided to trust Christ as the Messiah. Each had been praying and waiting patiently for the Holy Spirit of Christ to draw Stan into a relationship with himself.

—Story told in Stan Telchin, Betrayed (Chosen, 1981)