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Four Little Words
Like apples of gold in settings of silver, so is a fiord spoken at the right moment.
- Proverbs 25.11
Do you sometimes feel that your good works go unnoticed even by the LORD? During our pilgrimage through this life we need encouragement now and then. Although we are instructed to walk by faith and not by sight, it is always good to have occasional glimpses of the fulfillment of God's promise when He said,
the LORD, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Our deeds and our words are not overlooked. There is no human being who can give us sufficient personal encouragement and show us that our work, however insignificant, is not in vain. But God can. In His faithfulness, He never forgets!
Not too long ago I went to the airport to see an old friend and his wife off for a special three year stint in New Zealand. I arrived and helped George and Jan with a few necessary tasks as they checked in at the ticket counter. The next two men who came for the farewell were good friends of George and Jan. One was in a wheelchair. George introduced me to them.
After a pause, Archie, the man pushing his friend's wheelchair, said to me, "Were you ever in Spokane?" I answered, "Yes, in 1945, when I was a Marine in nearby Farragut Naval Hospital in Idaho. I used to go on liberty into Spokane."
He looked at me with growing excitement, "Did you ever attend Youth for Christ rallies during that time?" I replied, "Yes as a fairly new Christian, I was involved almost weekly for several months..
With amazement Archie told his story, "You are no doubt the one then! At one of those rallies, as a youth of 15, I accepted Christ as my personal Savior and LORD. After that particular meeting you came behind the stage where a group of we decisioners were gathered."
He continued, "Because of injuries to your neck, you could only whisper, so you shook my hand, leaned over and whispered, 'You'll never regret this.' I've always remembered that! "
49 years had passed, but those four little simple words that I had uttered and forgotten, had not been forgotten by Archie or our living LORD. Unknown to me, those four words, "You'll never regret this," were as a cup of cold water to a thirsty soul (Matthew 10.42).
Bob Boardman