“JUST BEING THERE”

By Dr. Hoyt W. Allen, Jr.

Often a person is heard saying, “I just hate to visit the funeral home”. Probably most would response to this comment with an amen. However Jesus said, “Blessed are those who morn, for they will be comforted...” (Matthew 5:4). Those in mourning are comforted through God’s people. That is why a Christian needs to go to the funeral home, as well as to make various bereavement type calls. Not only visiting those who are mourning is commanded (Romans 12:15), but “Just being There” for anyone who needs a friend is important.
A story was once told that is worth repeating. It was similar to this. A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. "Your son is here to see you and bring you good cheer," she said to the old man.
Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young man in the Marine Corps uniform standing at his bedside. He reached out his hand and the Marine wrapped his fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.
The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit alongside the bed. Nights are long in hospitals -- but all through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted room, holding the old man's hand
and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile, but he refused. Whenever the nurse came into the room to check on the patient, she heard him say a few gentle words to the dying man. The old man said nothing, only held tightly to the Marine’s hand all through the night. Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the lifeless hand he had been holding and went to inform the nurse.
The nurse started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her. "That's not necessary. Who was that man?" he asked. The nurse was startled, "He was your father" she answered. "No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life." "Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?" "I knew right away that there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, and I knew how much he needed me. I stayed. "The “Bottom Line” is this: The next time God gives us a mission - be there. Stay! You'll be glad you did. God is counting on each of us to be used of Him.