What We Cannot Know

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He had no idea what he did.

This afternoon, Robert Wolgemuth is being laid to rest, having died rather suddenly of pneumonia that just wouldn't let go.  I haven't seen or talked to him in decades.  The obituary of this faithful man stated his recognizable and notable achievements of which there were many, but those tributes never tell the whole story.

When we met, Bob, as he was known then, had just graduated from college.  He was starting a chapter of Campus Life youth ministry at my high school.  In the course of his career, that ministry appeared to be just a short-lived blip -- but those are the moments that do not just prepare us for what is to come, but even how God uses us in what is now.  Faithfulness to God goes way back.

One evening when the youth meeting was over, Bob had no idea that the words he said to me were going to be so sticky. I didn't realize it at the time either. We rarely do.  But well-placed words and sacred encounters don't just come to the surface of our thoughts every now and then, but follow us around for a long time.  Those words are sometimes what we need to carry with us.  Sometimes we don't even know that we need them.  Or need them right now.

I was the shy girl on the edge of the crowd.  Most of the time I held a small notebook that I brought to the meetings, in case I wanted to write something down.  He noticed.  And one week asked if he could read some of my writings.  Reluctantly, I let him borrow my notebook.  The next week when he handed it back to me, I expected him to repeat what others had said in condescending tones, "Oh, that was really good," as if I was a kindergartner who drew a picture of purple and orange stick figures.  

But he didn't.  He said, "I hope you didn't mind that I copied down some of your poems." 

His words stuck.  They encouraged that timid 14-year-old to keep on writing.  They still do.

Who are the people who have influenced us most?  Not the ones who thought they did, but those without the slightest notion of their impact, those who radiated the unconscious loveliness of the Lord's touch.      ---Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest 

God places each of us daily in divine appointments to encourage others and love them to Him.  God's faithfulness changes the course of lives every day.  One unforgettable word at a time.

It's our turn. 

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.  Proverbs 25. 11