Unexpected Blessings

Last night was one of those nights that I was zapped. After spending the past three days keeping up with 10-year-olds at six Orlando theme parks, I was really looking forward to a hot bath and a good night’s sleep.

Unfortunately, a brother-in-law I love dearly is in the dying process. So I found myself taking a shift at his bedside while my ex helped coach our son’s baseball game. After seven years of battling cancer, Mike is at the end of his days here on earth. The doctors called us in Easter morning to say our final goodbyes, but somehow, he has managed to cling to this world with the same tenacity he has been so well known in life for.

Mike hasn’t been conscious for over a week now, and the process has been wearing on all concerned who just want to be sure that he isn’t suffering. So there I was last night, settling in for some quiet television and monitoring his breathing—my only task to hit the button to deliver more pain meds if he seemed uncomfortable.

After a few hours on my own, Mike’s friend Jeff came in from Georgia for a visit. I’ve never met Jeff before but had heard much about him from Mike’s wife, because Jeff was the one who led Mike to Christ one day at work a few years ago. Before we talked, I didn’t know exactly how all of this had come about, but I knew that it had because of Mike’s complete transformation. He went from surly and belligerent to genuinely sweet overnight. The kind underside of his personality surfaced as old fears, hurts, and regrets disappeared under the saving blood of the cross. It was something to behold.

As we sat there in the quiet of that hospital room last night, Jeff began to tell me stories of his time with Mike. Again, to truly appreciate the unexpected blessing of this conversation, you’ve got to know a bit of the background.

Mike was the third of eight children. He spent nearly two years in the Army fighting in Vietnam. It was a war that he never talked about but it has stayed with him throughout his life. My earliest family memory of him was of his diving under a car during a family reunion—a good 20 years after his Army service—after a low-flying military plane sparked a flashback of the conflict.

There were also tales of his marijuana deals in the heyday and confusion of the 70s and his exploits on various motorcycles that he owned over the years. By the time I knew him, he tended to stay pretty quiet and keep mainly to himself. He was an avid fisherman and seemed to be most happy and peaceful out on the water with a whiskey and 7Up listening to Jimmy Buffett, longish blond hair and bushy mustache blowing back in the wind. He wasn’t one to tolerate much foolishness out of anyone, but he’d give you the Hawaiian shirt off of his back if he thought that you needed it or particularly liked it.

We never really talked about God, because my ex’s family held to the notion that you didn’t talk sex, religion, or politics, but I had the distinct impression that Mike wasn’t very interested in anything to do with the Lord. I’m sorry to say that for the first 18 or so years of our relationship, the only times I ever discussed Christ with him were when he asked about the mission trips I was taking to Russia.

Mike was originally diagnosed with cancer in 2002. By the time the cancer returned after a couple of years in remission, I knew he had become a Christian, and I sent him a book and a CD of healing scriptures developed by John Hagee Ministries. That opened the door for us to talk about the Lord, and one of my most precious “Mike” memories was of the Lord pressing me to take communion to him while he was in the hospital last summer with a blockage that was causing him tremendous stomach pain. I went, fearing that I was intruding, and ended up serving several family members and praying and celebrating life and God’s goodness with them.

Last night as I sat with Jeff, I learned so many things about Mike’s faith that I had not known. Not only did Mike become a Christian a few years ago, he and Jeff began a daily morning prayer time at work. When co-workers had any concerns, they would come to Mike and Jeff for prayer, and they would stop what they were doing and pray with them.

As I sat on the opposite side of the bed, I listened to Jeff tell Mike about several prayers they’d had answered just in the past couple of weeks. It was so sweet to see Jeff’s love for Mike and to listen to Jeff recount Mike’s love for Jesus. Once again, it reminded me that God really doesn’t care what any of us thinks of someone else’s desire for him or chances for salvation. He is always at work. He honored the prayers of Mike’s Christian wife and family members who’d been praying for his salvation. He spent years wooing him and sustaining him after the damage done in the war, and out of the wreckage of Mike’s woundedness, he created a beautiful heart for Jesus and compassion to see others set free.

As Mike’s earthly life comes to an end, I’m comforted in knowing that this is but a blink of an eye to the eternity God has prepared for him. I’m so thankful that after years of struggle, Mike finally grasped God’s love for him and accepted his gift of salvation.

He understood that heaven is a free gift.(1) None of us can earn it or deserve it.(2) We’re all sinners and can’t save ourselves.(3) God is love and he is merciful,(4) and he doesn’t want to punish us, but he’s just and must punish sin.(5) However, because he loves us so much, he solved our problem through his son Jesus Christ who was fully human and fully God.(6) Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay the penalty for our sins, restore our broken relationship with God, and assure us of eternal life with him in heaven.(7) How? Through faith in Jesus alone and what he’s already done for us.(8)

It’s as easy as taking a minute to talk (pray) to God and say, “I know I’ve sinned. I’ve done things I shouldn’t and not done things that I should. But I know that you love me and that Jesus already paid for those sins when he died on the cross and defeated death. I ask Jesus to save me and be my Lord.” As soon as you’ve said that prayer—or something like it—you’ve started on that journey. In fact, John 6:47 tells us, “I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life” (Jesus speaking, NIV).

Now to really grow in all that the Lord has for you, you’ve got to spend time with him. Sounds hard, but it’s not. Pray (talk to him) in your own words. Learn about him through reading and studying the bible—it will really help to get a more modern translation like the NIV that’s easier to understand than something like the King James version. Find other people to study about God and spend time with. Find a group such as a church or bible study that you can be a part of so that you can learn more and have others around you to support your growth.

God is so good. If you have a family member or friend you’ve been praying for, don’t stop. It’s never too late for the Lord. I had the privilege of watching my 87-year-old mother-in-law receive Christ just a few months ago. We don’t know or understand God’s timing. We don’t have to. His ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9).

We just need to keep bringing those petitions to him, and He will bless us in the most unusual ways and places. Sometimes he even blesses us in a hospice room. Only he can bring such life and joy in the midst of death. After all, once we have trusted him for salvation, this life is just a shadow of the blessings to come.
------------------------------------------
Footnotes of scripture references:
1) Romans 6:23
2) Ephesians 2:8–9
3) Romans 3:23
4) 1 John 4:8b
5) Exodus 34:7b
6) John 1:1, 14
7) Isaiah 53:6
8) Acts 16:31