(a blend of fiction and fact)
It had been such a troubling day for Pastor Nathan. When he started off for his office in the morning, he had no idea what calamities awaited him. First there had been simple problems. A pipe in the church kitchen leaked enough to get water on carpeting in a nearby hallway. His coffee pot was on the fritz. A guest speaker who had been widely promoted had to cancel. Then there were more serious issues. He
sat with a hurting family for two hours in NICU as their infant son breathed his last. Milly and Sandra were causing division in the church. A woman he had just led to the Lord last week had been beaten by her boyfriend for attending a prayer meeting. Now the boyfriend was in jail asking to talk to him.
The day held some pleasure too. One young couple came by and brought him a book he had been wanting. They were in a book store and overheard him asking about the out-of-stock book a week earlier. He had not returned to the store since, but they had, and decided to surprise him. They even included some English toffee with the gift; his favorite. Nathan wished his wife Sarah was still alive. She loved
English toffee and she loved him. He wanted a hug from her so badly today! At least the love of the young couple had lifted his spirit. He enjoyed visiting and praying with them.
There was one issue this day that left Nathan feeling emotionally conflicted. He had been going to visit a young couple on a regular basis for an uncomfortable period of time. This couple was clearly hostile to the Lord but had asked him to baptize their infant daughter. Their request did not have anything to do with God. They simply wanted to honor close friends by making them the child’s godparents. They made it clear to Nathan that they did not want to attend the church but were willing to pay him.
Pastor Nathan was about to say no to them when he suddenly felt a check in his spirit. Instead he responded, “I do not want your money, but I will do it if you allow me to come and talk to you about the love of God.” Since the couple could not find anyone else, they reluctantly agreed. With that Pastor Nathan entered a spiritual battle that lasted for weeks. The enemy tried ferociously to get him to quit
reaching out to them. Still, Nathan faithfully poured out love on the couple each visit even though his love was met with hostility. One day when he told the young wife that Father God loved her, she responded by blowing smoke in his face. He could see her tighten up with intense anger as he said it, but he said it to her again and again and again in future visits. He felt deep in his heart that he needed to.
The couple suddenly moved and left no forwarding address. Nathan never saw the slightest glimmer of hope with them. They responded to him with sarcasm right up to the end. Now he could only pray that his efforts were not useless. I hope the enemy did not convince him that he had failed, because he didn’t! How do I know? Because I was the rude young wife who blew smoke in his face. The seeds of love Pastor Nathan persistently planted took root over years in my heart. It was his persistence that first convinced me of God’s love. To this day his faithfulness comes to mind at times when I am tempted to give up on others. Now I am a woman who really loves the Lord. (P.S. Ever wonder why I pray for pastors so often?)
[Note: The Assemblies of God dedicates babies to the Lord as Jesus’ parents did rather than baptizing them. Baptisms take place after a person understands and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior.]