Stepping Out in RED Shoes!
- Day 33 -
Yesterday, while I was looking up Malachi Chapter 3, I was reminded of a story that I treasure dearly. Shortly after I gave my life Christ in 1983, I received news that my aunt was dying of cancer. Immediately, I began writing her little cards expressing to her my faith in Christ and that I was praying for her. Several months went by, and I received a call from my Mom and Dad that they were going to take a road trip down to Georgia to visit her at the nursing home. -- They were hoping I would join them. Of course I wanted to go along! Perhaps I would get a chance to pray with her and lead her to Christ! How awesome would that be?
My parents were not quite in agreement with me. Let's just say that, in my new found conversion, I may have come across to them a bit like a bull in a china shop. Hey -- I was new and enthusiastically passionate about converting the world to Christ! My heart was right, but my technique was a bit overwhelming and messy.
The rest of the details, however, I do remember quite vividly. I ran into my living room incredibly upset. All I wanted was to see my aunt go to heaven! Why couldn't they understand that? I got down on my knees, closed my eyes, and cried for a very long time. When there were no tears remaining, I found myself totally exhausted. My mind went completely blank. Then suddenly, something quite unusual occurred. It was as if God, Himself, wrote a word on the blackboard of my mind. It said...
Malachi 3:1
"What's a Malachi?" I wondered. What a strange word. I was a new Christian and didn't have a clue what that meant. "Maybe it's a book in the Bible?" I thought. There were a lot of words like that in the Bible. I reached over for the Good Book and opened it to the Table of Contents. Sure enough, there was a book called Malachi. I turned to the reference quickly and read it.
"I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me.
Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple;
the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,"
says the LORD Almighty.
Being the novice that I was, I wouldn't have tried to decipher that on my own. The LORD, however, spoke this very thing to me...
"Gail... I will send my messenger before you.
When you get there, your aunt will either
ask you to tell her about Jesus, or
she will tell you she's saved.
You wont have to initiate anything!"
Wow! I had never had such a thing happen to me. I slowly wiped away my tears, went to the phone and called my parents and assured them I wouldn't initiate anything or create anything disruptive on the trip. -- All was well.
Before I knew it the time had arrived. We all jumped in the car and headed to Georgia for a week. When we finally got there, we walked in the front door of the convalescent home and there was my aunt waiting for us in the visitation area with great expectation. After plenty of hugs and kisses, she instructed us to all sit down. -- She had something very important she wanted to tell us. With a big smile on her face, glowing with great joy, she said this...
"Hey... if I can't tell my own family, who can I tell? I've met Jesus! He came into my room the other night and talked with me. Now I know for sure that I'm going to heaven!"
How great is that? It was just as the LORD had told me! The next day, my aunt and I got to talk with one another about her experience. I gave her a little Gospel of John and she gave me a little corsage that she had. We sealed it with a quiet bedside prayer. It was an awesome time of fellowship in which our spirits bore witness of each other's salvation.
Over the years, I haven't really spent much time in the Book of Malachi. But when I went there yesterday, and my eyes caught a glimpse of Malachi 3:1, it all came back to me. Suddenly, it dawned on me that my aunt will be waiting to greet me at the pearly gates one day. I'm looking forward to that!
I wonder if she likes my RED shoes?
Gail
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