“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”
Isaiah 55:8 (RSV)
My friend, Michelle, once saved a total stranger’s life, by using the Heimlich maneuver. She was at a gas station pumping gas and saw a man choking in a car next to her. She rushed over, took action and saved his life. The man was so grateful to her afterward, and I never forgot that story since the day she shared it with me.
Sadly, Michelle couldn’t save herself, when she was unable to breathe from a blood clot which infiltrated her lung exactly two weeks ago. Her sister quickly drove to her house to bring her to the hospital but Michelle collapsed walking outside her front door. Paramedics tried to resuscitate her but she died in the ER. It’s a heart breaking story, not just because she was my friend, but because she was a caring, generous person with a great sense of humor, who loved all babies, children and animals, and she had so much more to live for. The man she once saved will never know her fate, but is probably still sharing the story of how a total stranger once saved his life when he was choking. I happen to believe that angels surround all of us every day, and we may have been unknowingly spared from accidents or tragedies, due to their intervention. In some instances, the angels that God sends our way are people, who are at the right place at the right time, reacting to someone’s desperate need, doing whatever it takes to save a life. Some people are the givers of help and some are the receivers.
There is so much we will never have answers for, since God’s thoughts and ways are not like ours, but what we do know is that God is good, and He loves us more than we could comprehend. We were all meant to keep on living our lives with faith and hope, keeping the memories alive of those who have blessed us, by celebrating their life instead of their death. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive, so Michelle must be receiving her blessings, especially for that day she gave a total stranger his chance to go on living. It’s more blessed to count what was given, rather than what was lost.
We can prepare ourselves to step into action when God sends us to someone at the right place at the right time, whether we give physical, spiritual or emotional support to them, through our words or deeds.
Lord, instead of looking for the reasons why there are so many sorrows in this world, help us to see an opportunity to be somebody’s angel each and every day. Amen