After talking to David that night, I stood at the stove stirring my ginger tea, watching the ginger shavings bleed the boiling water with a golden hue. I replayed the conversation in my mind:
“Hi Eric, my Dad took a turn for the worse. He’s really gone downhill quickly. Hospice is called in and watching him. He may not make it through the night. He really spoke very highly of you. We will keep you posted.”
As I added lemon and honey to the golden ginger tea I thought about Dave. He’s eighty-seven and just lost his wife a year ago. He was alone and stuck in nursing centers and had just wanted to be home with his dogs at his lake house. I already missed him and he wasn’t even gone yet.
I wondered when the funeral would be. I wondered what his kids were like since I’d never met them. In fourteen years our communication was mostly phone calls. I was his maintenance man at the four townhouses he owned. We talked about everything on the phone: leaky faucets, lawn care, politics, sports, history, family, and the Bible.
My mind replayed our conversations, the sound of his voice, his chuckle, his questions about the Bible and salvation. I rejoiced that Dave knew where he was headed for all of eternity: heaven. Not because he was raised Catholic or a decent man, but because he had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ his Savior. He trusted Christ alone to forgive and save him.
That’s when God poked me…right there at the stove as I poured my tea. You’ll give the eulogy and testify of me. There’s nobody else who can do it. You knew him best.
I was immediately nervous and stressed, fighting with every excuse. That lasted three seconds. Then I chuckled and submitted.
Ok, Lord.
The next day I texted his son David and found out that Dave passed away early that morning. He asked me what God had already told me the night before…”Can you help us out with a prayer at the funeral?”
I said I’d be honored. The funeral director called me later and explained that they wanted me to say the eulogy. She said they wanted it to be “light on religion”. Okay, strange but no problem. I’m not into religion anyway, I’m into pursuing Christ and obeying the Holy Spirit.
The next week was an emotional rollercoaster in preparing the eulogy for a man I truly loved, for a family I’d never met…a man who loved the Lord with kids who wanted his service to be “light on religion.”
When God says do it, we must obey. Even though it’s stressful and emotional and draining…to obey God is better than sacrificing our own time, plans, and ideas. We can do everything we think God wants…often great works…but if it’s not what God asked then it’s a waste of time.
God didn’t ask me to send cards and flowers to Dave’s family, he asked me to speak.
To be continued…
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