The Little Things

Rosie reminded me the other day that little things pack a powerful punch in regards to the Christian life.  Those things seldom talked about that make someone’s day. 

Rosie is blind and spends most of her day either lying in bed or sitting in her wheelchair, taking in the sounds of familiar voices.  She is sweetness personified!  Jesus is her best friend and she is quick to talk about him to anyone who visits her.  Her infamous saying is, “God loves you and I love you, and there’s nothing you can do about it!”

This 86 year-old victim of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a widow who was never blessed with children, so she poured her life into her husband and church work.  Boy, does she have stories to tell!

Because of swallowing problems, Rosie has been forced to eat her food pureed.  I refer to it as “grown up baby food.”  Each time I visit her, she mentions – several times – what she wouldn’t do for a piece of barbecued chicken.  Note to self:  “One day make her day!”

Recently, Rosie woke up experiencing severe melancholy.  Sadness captured her heart and she asked the Lord, “Do you really love me and are you really with me?  Lord, I need to know you haven’t left me.” 

Rosie then petitioned the Lord:  “If you really love me, then have someone bring me barbecued chicken today.” Tears flowed as the little woman prayed in earnest. 

While traveling mid-morning to visit Rosie, I had a lot on my mind, and barbecued chicken was not one of them.  However, as I turned west toward Rosie’s skilled living facility, the thought entered my mind:  “Buy Rosie some barbecued chicken.” The Lord made it easy for me too. Immediately to my right was a Kentucky Fried Chicken! 

Minutes later I found Rosie in the dining room preparing to eat her pureed food.  I said, “Rosie, it’s Chaplain Roger and guess what?  I brought you that barbecued chicken meal I promised you.”

Rosie began to cry and then her crying turned to joy.  She shouted for all in the room to hear:  “You DO LOVE ME,” she yelled.  That little lady cried, shouted and praised the Lord for five minutes before she settled down to eat her ”finger licking good” chicken tenders, smothered in barbecue sauce.   After telling me her story, I too rejoiced.  That day a mighty woman of God, who suffered a temporary lapse in faith, found renewed assurance of God’s love and concern for her through a barbecued chicken meal.

You see, sometimes God uses little things to speak to us and to impact us in huge ways.

God's Wonderful Track Record

I admit it.  I tend to worry, especially when it comes to money, and more specifically, retirement.  The other day I heard something about Social Security that further threatened my peace.  I heard a colleague say, “There will be no Social Security left when we need it” (Not sure where she got her facts).  Immediately, fear grabbed my heart, as I allowed the enemy to weave his lies into the fabric of my future.  Then something wonderful and supernatural happened.  I heard the Lord say, “I’ve been faithful to you over the years and I will continue to be faithful.  Trust Me!” Peace from above calmed my heart. 

My mind raced back to my senior year at Jefferson Area High School.  Graduation was coming and I had no idea how I was going to finance my college education.  By faith I applied to attend Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri and was accepted.

In April 1974, I learned that a foundation in Conneaut, Ohio was offering scholarships to qualified applicants.  Upon inquiry I discovered that I met the necessary preliminary requirements, so I applied to the George J. Record School Foundation for assistance.  And guess what?  Their mission statement lined up with my need!

It said, “In accordance with its mission, the foundation makes grants to very good students from Ashtabula County, Ohio, attending private, non-state supported, accredited colleges or universities affiliated with a religion of a Protestant denomination.  Grants are confined to residents of Ashtabula County, Ohio.”

God matched my need to their requirements!  Four years later I graduated from EU with only a $3,000 student loan balance!  God proved Himself faithful.

Over the years God has continued to prove Himself faithful in our finances.  We raised four children and when I look back I ask myself, “How did we do it?”  The answer:  God’s continued faithfulness.  I can recount story after story when the Lord helped us with financial issues.  I remember what the late radio evangelist C.M. Ward said about God’s faithfulness: “God will always meet our needs, but sometimes He’ll scare us!”  Been there, experienced that!

Now at 62, I find that television and radio advertisements about retirement income tend to place fearful thoughts in the minds of baby boomers.  I refuse to allow Wall Street, my 401k or the Social Security Administration to dictate my faith.  I choose to put my faith in Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord Who provides.  If these advertisements are correct, most Americans do not have enough money for their retirement years.  And if we choose to dwell on current savings ratios, we end up fearing the future. 

Yes, save your money.  Yes, do what you can in your youth and wage earning years to prepare for your financial future.  But when it comes down to it, life is uncertain and unpredictable.  We need the Lord to be our financial advisor!  He is our Provider. 

God used the George J. Record Foundation in my youth to unexpectedly meet my need for college tuition.  And this same God of my upcoming retirement years will continue to meet my needs “according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).  He has a wonderful track record.  His faithfulness is unsurpassed!

Angelic Visitations

The Bible teaches “some people have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2).  The once popular television series, “Touched By An Angel,” lent credence to the idea that angels come to our aid in every day life.  Craft stores still feature a wide array of angel displays. 

Some years ago a pastor’s daughter living in Idaho wrote a book entitled, “The Man Who Talked with Angels.”   Readers thrilled to learn about the late Rev. Roland Buck’s late night angelic encounters.  The book was the sequel to “Angels on Assignment” by Charles and Frances Hunter, as told by Pastor Buck.  These were incredible accounts written by credible ministers of the Gospel!

Those who know me say I’m analytical.  I’m cautious not to over-sensationalize the Gospel.  But when it comes to angels I’m eager to share the following stories.

In late November of 1977, Lori and I encountered an angelic visitation on the outskirts of Walnut, Mississippi.  We, along with another couple, were returning to Springfield, Missouri from Gadsden, Alabama, following our Thanksgiving break from college.  Our timing was bad, as that remote part of Mississippi had just been blanketed with an unseasonably heavy ice storm.

The battery died in our 1966 Plymouth.  It was approximately 2:00 a.m. and we were stranded on an icy hillside.  The night air was crisp and the snow crackled under our feet.  The icy conditions made it impossible to walk and we had no heat.  After we panicked, we prayed!

From time to time, we tried to start the car but the battery remained too weak to turn over the engine.  We wondered what to do when a vehicle approached from the direction of town.  Two men appeared in a city truck.  Unfortunately, they carried no battery cables with them.  While conversing with these men, a third man suddenly appeared.  He was dressed like the others so we thought nothing of this interloper.

While conversing with the original two men, our car unexpectedly started.  “There you go,” said the third man.  And then he vanished!  The two puzzled city workers asked us if we knew “that man.”  “We assumed he was with you,” we replied.  This event took place almost 41 years ago and we still rejoice over God’s goodness to us that night in freezing, remote Walnut, Mississippi.  Heaven dispatched an angel with mechanical abilities and dressed him like a city employee.  We unknowingly entertained a heavenly visitor!

Our second angel intervention took place a few years later.  Like many newly married couples, Lori and I wrestled with finances.  Our money seemed to run out before each month!  Somehow I had obtained a car loan.  We thought we were in “high cotton,” that is, until we got behind in our monthly payments.  We tried our best, but eventually the bank threatened repossession.  It’s not that we wouldn’t pay; we just didn’t have the money. 

Evidently, God grew weary of my incessant begging and dispatched an angel to help us.  A letter from the bank came in the mail one day and when I saw the return address, I placed it on a high shelf.  Out of sight, out of mind!  However, I could not get that letter off my mind and with trepidation finally faced the inevitable.

When I opened the envelope, I saw stamped across the top of the original loan papers, “Paid in full.”  When I called the bank, the loan officer told me a distinguished looking gentleman had walked into the bank and paid the balance in cash.  Again, heaven dispatched an angel to meet a desperate need.  By the way, the first two angels were older gentlemen who had white hair! (Perhaps the same angel!)

The next angel story is my favorite.  When our oldest daughter, Sarah, was a toddler, she climbed a tall stool while playing on my wife’s grandparents’ concrete patio.  I was standing at the opposite corner of the patio not paying attention, when I turned around just in time to see my baby girl lose her balance and fall head first to the floor.  I had time only to cry out, “Jesus!”

Unseen hands caught her midair and lowered my child to the floor.   She was placed on the concrete like a mother gentling placing her baby on a bed.  Sarah was spared from serious injury or worse. 

Do you believe in angels?  I believe we all entertain them unaware. I can tell you that angels have been spotted in Walnut, Mississippi, Birmingham, Alabama, and Lebanon, Indiana; and I’m sure in your sphere of life, too!