Not a Day Sooner
In every encounter, people who cross our path leave a part of themselves with us. Their words, wisdom, or humour is a gift of God. I find that the Holy Spirit will call to remembrance some of these unusual moments to illustrate a truth or impress a teaching upon the heart of another, and all we are doing is telling a story. Jesus was a master real-life storyteller, and that is why His teachings impact us in life today. There is a Christian commentator who hosts a program “Wretched Radio” who responds to every inquiry about how he is doing with the response “better than I deserve!” A Christian senior man I frequently visited would always end our conversation …show more content…
While visiting Percy in a nursing home, he proposed an unusual request of me. Very calmly and sincerely, he asked me to pray that he would die. He went on to express that he had been richly blessed over the years and that he was confident that through his personal relationship with Jesus Christ as his Saviour and Lord that a wonderful heavenly future awaited him. He also had run a good race and had overcome many obstacles, and he was ready to receive his crown of victory. Yet, here he was naming this the place where he wanted to die and that this was the time he wanted to die. Why? He had outlived his precious wife and all his friends, and, though he had two wonderful daughters, he was lonely and wanted to be reunited with those he loved who had gone before him. He was ready to go home to be with the Lord and experience the glad reunion of …show more content…
It was getting late in the evening, and I was surprised to discover that he had visitors. Percy introduced the two visitors as his daughters who had made a special trip to town to spend time with him, and they had had a wonderful week together. I remember how animated he was that evening sitting up in bed reminiscing and laughing, enjoying every moment. The time eventually came for me to leave, and, without hesitation, he reminded me not to leave out the one liner! With this comment, I took a moment to explain to the daughters the heart of their Dad’s love for them, his faith and his heart’s desire. They responded positively but certainly questioningly. They were seated beside him, and I was on the opposite side of the bed. From that position, I placed my hand behind his head and across the bed to join hands with them. With eyes closed, I gave thanks for the week of visiting this family had enjoyed together and for God’s providential care over each when they would be apart one from the other. The Hebrew word for such a blessing is Mizpah. Then as I prayed “not a day sooner and not a day later,” a flash of energy shot through my arm and out the top of my head! It took my breath away momentarily! I assumed that we had been joined by one of the nurses on staff that night for often they would reach out a
In every encounter, people who cross our path leave a part of themselves with us. Their words, wisdom, or humour is a gift of God. I find that the Holy Spirit will call to remembrance some of these unusual moments to illustrate a truth or impress a teaching upon the heart of another, and all we are doing is telling a story. Jesus was a master real-life storyteller, and that is why His teachings impact us in life today. There is a Christian commentator who hosts a program “Wretched Radio” who responds to every inquiry about how he is doing with the response “better than I deserve!” A Christian senior man I frequently visited would always end our conversation …show more content…
While visiting Percy in a nursing home, he proposed an unusual request of me. Very calmly and sincerely, he asked me to pray that he would die. He went on to express that he had been richly blessed over the years and that he was confident that through his personal relationship with Jesus Christ as his Saviour and Lord that a wonderful heavenly future awaited him. He also had run a good race and had overcome many obstacles, and he was ready to receive his crown of victory. Yet, here he was naming this the place where he wanted to die and that this was the time he wanted to die. Why? He had outlived his precious wife and all his friends, and, though he had two wonderful daughters, he was lonely and wanted to be reunited with those he loved who had gone before him. He was ready to go home to be with the Lord and experience the glad reunion of …show more content…
It was getting late in the evening, and I was surprised to discover that he had visitors. Percy introduced the two visitors as his daughters who had made a special trip to town to spend time with him, and they had had a wonderful week together. I remember how animated he was that evening sitting up in bed reminiscing and laughing, enjoying every moment. The time eventually came for me to leave, and, without hesitation, he reminded me not to leave out the one liner! With this comment, I took a moment to explain to the daughters the heart of their Dad’s love for them, his faith and his heart’s desire. They responded positively but certainly questioningly. They were seated beside him, and I was on the opposite side of the bed. From that position, I placed my hand behind his head and across the bed to join hands with them. With eyes closed, I gave thanks for the week of visiting this family had enjoyed together and for God’s providential care over each when they would be apart one from the other. The Hebrew word for such a blessing is Mizpah. Then as I prayed “not a day sooner and not a day later,” a flash of energy shot through my arm and out the top of my head! It took my breath away momentarily! I assumed that we had been joined by one of the nurses on staff that night for often they would reach out a