Answering the call………

There is nothing I consider more important than answering His call.  I have been suffering some today because of a call I didn’t answer.  You may remember a couple of weeks ago I asked you to be in prayer about my visiting with a friend that was dying of cancer.  That visit never happened.  I called his wife to let her know that I would love to have a few minutes with my friend, but she never returned my call.  Of course a lot was going on, and there are a million reasons why my request fell through the cracks, but I still felt responsible and have worried about my friend.  I found out today, that he had passed away this morning, and the anxiety about the missed visit  started anew.

My wife is attending a medical meeting on the West Coast of Florida and I came along and have been doing pro and newspaper calls during the days while she has been in meetings.  Late this afternoon when she got out of her meeting and I returned from a pro call, we slipped into out bathing suits and went down to the pool to relax.  I got into the hot tub and was staring at the image above, water cascading over a wall.  I was thinking how much that constantly moving water is like our lives, we rush through this life and are gone in a instant.  I was still so worried about my missed visit with my friend, I bowed my head and began to pray for him.  I told God I knew it was too late to pray for his salvation, but that I prayed he had made his peace with Him before the end.  I still worried about that situation.  I prayed for a while and when I raised my head I was looking right at a dove that had landed next to the hot tub, just a few feet a way from me.  It walked slowly down the edge of the tub and when it got very close to where I set motionless, he turned and look right into my eyes.  At that moment I knew God was sending me the peace I so needed, and the answer to my question.

Later tonight I talked with another very close friend from Harlan where I grew up, he shared with me that he saw our friend about a week and a half ago and that our friend assured him that he was right with the Lord, a flood of thankfulness washed over me!  God is so good to give us peace when only he can.  I’m so thankful that my friend made that trip and talked to our friend before he left us.  That assurance was the most important thing to me and vital to my friend.  Tonight he is reunited with family and friends and with the Lord!!!

All of our lives are passing by fast, please don’t fail to make the most important contract of all, giving Him your heart and your life.

the pilgrim