Has God Forgotten About Me?
By Phil Scovell
We walked out of church together one Wednesday evening. The
night was beautiful. It was quiet and only the sounds of the car
doors slamming could be heard. The engine fired and we pulled away
from our parking spot in front of the little church we attended.
It was silent in the car for some time. Then he spoke. "You
know, Phil," he said, "there's just something I don't understand I
guess."
"What's that, Brother?" I asked; feeling I might have an idea of
what he was thinking.
"They came tonight, as you noticed," he said, "and they hardly
ever come."
"Sure," I replied cheerfully. The came tonight because they just
bought a brand new car that they wanted everybody to see. I wasn't
impressed"
"That's what I don't understand," the 75 year old man said with a
sigh.
"What about it, Brother?" I replied, now knowing exactly what he
meant.
"Well, I don't mean to sound ungrateful, you understand," he
continued with a weariness to his voice, "but it does bother me."
I waited for him to continue; knowing that he would. We had
become close friends over the years and he was like a dad to me. He
was spiritually wise beyond few men I knew and he had only a fourth
grade education. He had raised several children. Two different sons
had been killed by passing cars at two different times and that was
just the tip of the iceberg of all the adversity he and his wife had
suffered through their 50 years of marriage. I had even told him once
that when I grew up, I was about 49 years old at the time, I prayed
God would make me just like him. I wasn't joking either.
"Here I am," he said, "driving this old beat up car but don't
get me wrong. I'm thankful for what the Lord has given me. We have a
good enough house and all for our age and we are thankful for it, too.
We have loved and served the Lord cheerfully in the church all these
years and we have been spiritually and financially faithful to the
Lord. Yet, a feller just gets to wondering sometimes."
Of course, what he was really wondering, was why the people who
had been there that evening with their new car, appeared to be so
blessed, especially when their lives, and the lives of their children,
were so screwed up spiritually. Was he wrong for wondering? Of
course not. He also knew way more than I did about that family. I
felt privileged he felt free to share his feelings with me.
Less than six months later, we were riding in the same old car to
church on a Sunday night and he said, "Phil, I want to tell you
something but I don't want anybody else to know. This is just between
you and me."
"Ok," I agreed, "that's fine. What is it?"
"Well, I want your opinion but just keep this between us right
now."
"Ok," I said again. What is it?"
"Well," he began, it is this way. Ann and I have been given an
opportunity to move back to eastern Kansas. We have a relative who
has almost a brand new four bedroom home they want to sell to us." As
the conversation continued, he explained the house already had a
sloping sidewalk for his wife, who was, at that time, in a wheelchair,
plus centrally air conditioned, and they had several relatives living
nearby and the town was small enough, you could walk to just about any
place you wished. Additionally, the sale of their house in Denver
would allow them to buy their relative's home and pay cash for it.
That's not all. Due to the sky high house market in Denver, they
would be able, after they purchased the new house, bank 100,000
dollars. I casually pointed this out to him and suggested this was
the Lord.
When he finished, I said, "So what's the problem Brother?"
"Well," he said, "I don't know if we should do it. I mean, we'll
have to move and all and I just don't know. What do you think?"
I said, "Wait just a minute. You are asking me if you should
make this move or not?"
"Yep. I'm asking your opinion."
I said, "Brother, if you don't take this deal, you've got rocks
in your head. Don't you see it?"
"See what?" he wanted to know.
"Just a few weeks ago, you were feeling the pain of serving God
all your life but living on your social security and hardly making it
each month. Now, the Lord is giving you a chance, during your
retirement years, to live in a beautiful house with air conditioning,
which you don't have now, you can bank a good hundred grand, and you
can go down to the local car dealership and buy a 40,000 dollar van,
if you want to, paying cash for it, and still have sixty grand left in
the bank. What is the matter with you?" I think he had stopped
listening when I mentioned he would have 100,000 cash left over. I
nearly stopped thinking myself when I thought of God's immense grace
he was about to bestow upon this humble man and his wife.
He said, "I guess you're right. It is the Lord, isn't it?"
I said, "Of course it is the Lord. Who else would pull off
something this big? If you let this go by, Brother, I'm going to call
your relative up myself and take the deal. I'd love living out there
in that little town. If you do it, maybe Sandy and I will just move
out there and rent one of the bedrooms from you." He laugh as the
relief washed over him.
they eventually moved, of course, and one day they drove their
nice air conditioned van back to Denver and took us out to eat. God
doesn't forget. Yeah, but you say, "These people were old." Who you
calling old here? Sure, now they are about 80 years old but doing
well, more active in church than ever before, and his wife isn't in a
wheelchair any more. Like I said, God doesn't forget. He doesn't
forget us if we don't forget. So, it's simple. All we have to do is
remember who He is.
Safe Place Fellowship
Phil Scovell
Denver, Colorado
Mountain Time Zone
WWW.SafePlaceFellowship.COM
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