It’s Not my Job

Hanging up my Tights and Cape
I am, well, resourceful. I have a small reputation among my family and closest friends as a good problem-solver. I offer an example from my sister’s wedding, 21 years ago: When my cousin’s then-two-year-old-son disappeared, I trooped down the boardwalk of the beach next to the oceanfront reception site (in my bridesmaid’s dress) and found the child.

So I like to rise to a challenge. Some months ago our church small group leader shared with us the story of a man at the residential motel where he has a ministry. This man, Robert, was old, estranged from his family, and dying of cancer. He’d been living on the streets for years; as his health failed the motel manager brought him in from the streets. Robert wanted to see his son, Richard, again before he died. Our small group leader brought us the story and asked for our ideas for tracking down Richard.

I posted on my Facebook page and asked all my friends to repost on their own pages, but no Richard came forward. I googled. I went to an online “find your long lost classmates” site and searched for him there.

I did not find Richard.

So then I did what I should have done in the first place: I prayed. Lots of people prayed.

Last night our small group leader reported that someone else had located Richard. Richard refused to accept phone calls to his office, so the man who located him wrote him a note describing his father’s condition and delivered it to Richard’s office.

Robert is in hospice care now. Last week some other residents of the motel went to visit him, and Robert’s son’s name was the last entry on the visitor’s log before their own. When they arrived at Robert’s bedside, they found the pair tearfully holding hands and catching up on all the years that had passed.

When I stop to remember that God is God and I’m not, it’s a tremendous relief.

27 “I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for Me?” Jeremiah 32:27 (NLT)