WALKING through
the car park I held back tears. An event had just impacted me — an event I was
drawn up into — one that swept me up in its current and took me, for a while,
downstream. And it lasted all of fifteen fleeting yet eternal seconds.
Picture this
scene, at a bustling café, adjacent to a busy road. Here’s the story:
SHEER terror at
the realisation that his mother had left him, the six-year-old tore past me, bellowing
“Mummy, Mummy…” out of the café complex, heading for the road. He being hysterical,
I could not be sure he would stop short of the traffic, so I ran the fifty feet
between us, shouting “It’s okay, I will help you find her.” He stopped and
turned and appeared instantly relieved. I invited him to take my hand and he
did. As the fear subsided and he began wiping his tears, there was still a
great air of doubt in him. We walked straight back into the café, at which
point a staff member handed me my coffee. I quickly debriefed the staff member
and went on my way.
Then something much
unexpected happened. I began to well up with tears. Suddenly it occurred to me
that the boy I had just helped was a caricature of me. Many times as a
six-year-old myself I’d be worried for my safety without Mum or Dad around me.
Then God showed me the scene out of the Passion
of the Christ (2004) movie — where childhood Jesus was picked up by his
mother Mary having fallen. I guess part of my emotion was also garnered by the
acknowledgement of the potential consequences if the boy had kept on running onto
the road. And another reason I was emotional is I was in the right place and
right time — I was the right person — to intervene on this occasion.
Several
observations are possible:
· God places us in
situations where we are the only ones
who can help. What a privilege it is to serve God when he selects us like that.
· Emotions are
bound to creep up on us when something very significant occurs. We are graced
with the strength to partake of the emotion yet restrain the excess so we aren’t
disabled because of the emotion.
· Moments that
imply great emotion speak to our inner core. It is so nice that I know that I
was an insecure boy who needed his parents so much. That is no truth to be
ashamed of.
· If I were his
parent I would never scold him in his fear. His fear is appropriate. What could
be worse than losing a parent or feeling abandoned?
· I had just been
praying for the staff member who I released the boy to. She had no idea and I
had no idea why I should be praying for her, but God, who knows all, goes
before us all. My hope is she gave the boy the same safety as I was trying to
give him.
· There is no
better means of attaching importance to our lives than by being in a
God-anointed place at a God-appointed time. I was there for this boy’s time. I
was there, in the right place, to do God’s eternal will for that moment.
Instant purpose for life.
***
A 15-second time
period is long enough to change our lives. God speaks in a moment. His momentary
revelations may last a lifetime. But to be touched by God is to know he is
real. And by being touched many times, the Christian knows and is blessed.
Much can happen
in a moment and moments can carry us a very long way.
© 2015 Steve
Wickham.
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