The Lord’s Gentle Prompting

I couldn’t think of a last time-other than in an introduction before undergraduates in my class at the beginning of the semester.

I was without excuse other than to ask Him to grant me the opportunity. 

A student from my class was waiting in my office suite.

We didn’t have a prior appointment (I work from home most Fridays). He had a cast covering one leg in entirety and proceeded to relate his recent harrowing scooter accident, followed by a description of a dark place in his life from which he was emerging. And, he said it first, “I have God to thank for all I have been through and for where I am now.” I reciprocated by sharing how my current faculty position came through divine intervention. 

As this young man specified prior challenges, he also expressed his love for God and his hopes for the future. Listening to him, I was assured about his relationship with his heavenly Father. Before leaving, he gave me a hug. I thanked God for giving me this opportunity to engage with a student and recounted our conversation to my husband that weekend. 

But on Monday afternoon, my department chair called me into her office to tell me this same student had passed away on Sunday.

I was shocked! I cried.

I learned later that the circumstances of his death were related to a past that ensnared his body, but not his soul. Thankfully the story does not end here. 

I marvel at the Father’s love for me, for this student and for his parents. Knowing how much his last conversation detailing his active pursuit of a relationship with his loving eternal Father had convicted me, friends counseled me to write to his mother to tell her about it. Unbeknownst to me, the accuser was intricately crafty in casting doubts and adding to the unfathomable pain of these believing parents who had wondered about their son’s standing with God when they unexpectedly lost him. The mother welcomed my letter, saying it was heaven-sent and an answer to her prayers! 

His mother and I have since connected in person. It was a moving time for both of us to talk about her son and his faith. This young man was God’s light in his parents’ lives and mine too. I am grateful to God for setting up every detail so as not to have missed His strong yet gentle prompting – to get to know this wonderful young man and his family.

Isaiah 30:21 admonishes us “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”

Where, in your current situation, are you hearing the soft whisper of God prompting you to do something?

Listen.

Act on it.

You never know what God has in store for you – and others – when you avail yourself to Him.