Do you like to watch people? I find it very interesting to observe how people act. While sitting in a hospital emergency room yesterday, I had the opportunity to hear and see some things that I would not have guessed if I had been asked to predict what I would see and hear. One elderly lady was on her hands and knees as she sought relief from a pounding headache. A younger lady told the people around her that she was 36 years old and couldn’t wait to get out of the country to escape the cold. She went on to say that she was expecting and that she had a daughter twenty years ago. A young lady beside her told her that she had been waiting six hours for the results of a blood test.

We spend a great deal of time waiting, don’t we? Sometimes it is to see a health care professional and other times it is to be served at a store or a mechanic’s garage. As we age and have more doctors’ appointments than when we were younger, we should appreciate the good health that we enjoy, if we do. Recently, we were saddened to learn of the passing of a daughter of friends in Ontario, whom we visited 18 months ago. Please pray for Brian and Sharon as they grieve.

In our church small group, everyone has either a health challenge or a work challenge or both. Our pastor’s wife, Melissa, has been living with several health challenges in recent years. Pastor Brad is currently teaching on the book of Job and my heart goes out to those who are experiencing physical and emotional pain.

One man who survived a very difficult ordeal was Louis Zamperini, whose life story is portrayed in a film that Karen and I watched. What I didn’t know is that Louis came to faith in Christ four years after he was rescued in 1945, having been a prisoner of war for two and a half years. Dr. Billy Graham wrote about Louis in his book “Nearing Home”: “At ninety four years old, he traveled from his home in California to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he graciously appeared at the Billy Graham Library. For several hours he shook people’s hands and autographed copies of the book Unbroken, his life’s story. The following day, he rode two hours to my home where we had lunch together. It had been many years since we had visited. Louis patiently answered my questions as I asked him to relay his experiences that led up to his conversion.”

The story continues: “When Louis was rescued in 1945 and was welcomed home as a war hero, he enjoyed short-lived celebrity, followed by hard times. Humanly speaking, he had reason to be bitter and cynical. His wife, though, persuaded him to attend our 1949 crusade in Los Angeles where we conducted evangelistic meetings and preached the Gospel for six straight weeks. When Louis returned the second night, instead of slipping out early as he had planned to do when the invitation was given, he said that the Holy Spirit gripped his heart, and he walked the aisle into a prayer room where he repented of his sin, giving his life wholly to the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Last evening, I was relieved that the person I was with was well enough to be discharged. Another person was released at the same time and as the wheelchairs approached, I joked: “It’s a race to see who gets to the exit first!” For some people, life is a marathon; for others it is a sprint. The important thing is to know our destination. Mark Hitchcock, a pastor in Oklahoma, shares this: “Perhaps you’ve read about the weathered tombstone in an old cemetery in Indiana that bears this epitaph:

                        Pause, stranger, when you pass me by;

                        As you are now, so once was I,

                        As I am now, so you will be,

                        So prepare for death and follow me.

            An unknown passerby read those words and etched this reply below them:

                        To follow you I’m not content,

                        Until I know which way you went.”   

Scripture for the weekend: “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.” Psalm 119:114 (NKJV)