I woke that morning with a full agenda. I had house work to do, laundry to wash, errands to run, and a sermon to complete. On top of that, I had promised a young unmarried mother I would care for her little girl at 2:00.
After cleaning the house and washing the laundry, I got into my car to do my errands. I was looking forward to sitting down and relaxing as I drove. As the scenery passed by, I thought of my relationship with the Lord. It had been a while since I had been part of a one-to-one sharing experience. I longed to tell someone that Jesus had died for him; I longed to meet a hungering person who needed what Jesus could give her. I thought of an old hymn and was stirred by its words:
"Work for the night is coming;
Work through the morning hours;
Work while the dew is sparkling;
Work 'mid springing flowers."
I thought of Ellen White's words when she told us there are those waiting out in the highways and hedges waiting to be drawn in. I could not help but wonder if I was doing my part. Could Jesus say of me, "Well done thou good and faithful servant?"I really did want to do my best for Him.
I was singing the second verse of the hymn when I saw her. She was an older woman. She was walking ever so slowly, With her threadbare coat clutched around her and her scarf whipping around her head, it seemed she had little strength to put one foot in front of the other.
My car's momentum was such that I could not stop immediately. As I passed her and crested a hill, I saw an oId white sedan stalled beside the road. My heart went out to this stranger. She was stranded in the middle of nowhere and I couldn't leave her to walk in the bitter cold to the nearest house.
I found a place to turn around and made my way back. As I pulled up to her, I could see fear and distrust in her eyes. I smiled and reached across to open the door for her. "May I give you a ride somewhere?" I asked. "It's a pretty chilly day for a walk."
The lines in her face relaxed and she managed a weak grin. "My car just started sputtering and stopped," she explained, "and I didn't know what to do." I told her that although I wasn't a mechanic, I could take her wherever she needed to go.
As she sank back into the seat beside me, I realized she was younger than I had first thought. She interrupted my thoughts as she stammered, "I'm so sorry to delay you, but I surely appreciate you giving me a ride." Soon the two of us were chattering as she directed me to the home of some close friends. When we reached her friend's house, she paused before she got out. Her eyes became moist and her voice quivered as she spoke. She said, "You must be an angel straight from heaven." She hugged me briefly and was gone.
I sat there stunned. Me, an angel? I know she was expressing her gratitude, but her words burned their way into my mind. The plain truth dawned on me as never before. God's spirit was speaking through me to love and touch someone who may not have been touched in any other way. God gave me the profound privilege of being the channel through which He spoke. His glory is so brilliant, it must be shrouded by a cloak. That day, I had been the cloak.
As I drove into town that afternoon, it was with an exalted view of my time, my talents, my relationships. Every child of God is a channel through whom God speaks. Every Christian is a voice in the wilderness pointing the way to a loving Father and soon-coming King.
As His people unite their voices together, it will be as a glorious angel anthem proclaiming throughout the entire earth a message of love. As we unite our talents and time collectively, a lost world will see the hands, the feet, and the person of Jesus. "When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own!"( Christ's Object Lessons, p. 69).
Let us be the channel through which God speaks.
