The Voice

John looked out the window of his single wide trailer. It was an old trailer an inspector said should be condemned. Out the window, across the road, they were building a new home. With every 2 by 4 stud that went into the walls, John's heart sank a little deeper. It was a two-story home, with four or five bedrooms, a den, a great room, four baths, a three-car garage, truly a mansion compared to John's run-down single wide. In a few months, John figured he would be evicted as his landlord was going to sell the land to developers so the developers could put in more new mansions.

John was supposed to be the one living in a mansion. John graduated from college with honors, went on to get his M.B.A and doctorate in Business Finance. Prestigious firms and government agencies were recruiting him in the last few weeks of his doctoral work. But then the accident happened, crippling him and doing significant neurological damage. After two years of rehab, he could get around on crutches but he had lost a lot of his memory and John's ability to do advanced financial analysis was gone. All those years in college and his promising future were gone with the accident and the accident's aftermath.

No mansion.

No hope.

No wife.

No children.

Just existing.

Every day was a struggle against physical pain and depression. Living on disability got increasingly difficult as prices rose. And every 2 by 4 put in the mansion across the road was a reminder of what could have been.

As John gazed out his window, things began to take on sort of a purplish haze. John thought it might be one of those mysterious and painful neurological attacks he suffered caused by the accident. However, this one was a little different. This one had no pain. This one was nice. Suddenly John heard a voice. It was a familiar voice but a voice he could not connect to anyone he knew.

The voice said, "John, you are my beloved. Do not feel bad when you see what others have. What others have is only temporary. See what I have and you will see what is permanent. What joy I take in you. What great things you do for me. Those little prayers you send to people all over the world…they bless people in my name. The blessings you give in my name are greater than all the mansions of the earth combined. What you are building up for me will build you a greater mansion than what you see on earth. Be my child and build yourself a mansion with me. Be my beloved and understand there are great things in store for you in your life to come. You have little in this life but as my child you have much. You have pain in this life but you have joy in the life to come. You have worry in this life but only peace in the life to come. Do not be deceived by what you see with your physical eyes. See beyond the things of earth. See beyond the material surroundings of your life. I understand your struggles. I understand your pain. But take heart, all things done for me will work out to my glory. No matter what happens to you in this life, no matter how dark things may seem in the here and now, there is a larger picture you must see. See me in all things. See me even in the dark things that plague you and plague others. There is hope for you. There is hope for you because you have right now a promised land flowing with good things, happy things, a land full of joy and happiness. You must remember every time you fall down and get bruised I am with you and am waiting for you. You must remember every time you get hurt I am with you and I am working for you. In your work for me, in what you think is a little work for me, you must keep going no matter what the cost may be to you. You must give all you have and never look back. You must keep going no matter how much you have to pay or no matter how great your pain may be. I did not will that you should suffer but I do will you should be my child in your darkness. When things get difficult, you can rest, but do not rest for long because the fields are ripe and the harvesters are few. When you want to quit and give up, feel my hand upon your shoulder. When your eyes fill with tears over what you have to bear, take heart I am in all things. When you feel powerless, remember I am power and I am the only power that matters. Every breath you take is my breath because I am the power in you. Every beat of your heart is my beat because I am the power in your heart. In me, you have all the power you need. I know you want things to be different. I know you want all things to change. But take heart, for I am building for you a place where things will be eternally different. I am building for you a place where you can sail in happiness for eternity. How temporary are all things in this life! This life you live right now is like rented space that will soon be gone. There is joy to come! There is happiness to come! There is in your future beautiful music beyond your imagination to describe. There are good times beyond your understanding just over the horizon. In your future with me there is a sweet reunion greater than the greatest joy and laughter you have ever known. You are my chosen child. You are chosen among millions to do and to be all you do and all you are. Walk with me and find my peace. Walk with me and find my joy. Forget about your present trials and your present afflictions. Understand what you see, think, hear, and do in this present life for yourself is nothing compared to what you see, think, hear, and do for me when you do my will. When you hurt, think of me and my world above you. When you suffer, think of my world within you. When you feel anxiety or fear, think about my world beneath you. When you struggle and think there is no hope, think of my supernatural realms beyond your wildest imagination. Everywhere you go, I am there. There is no place on earth or in the universe where I am not present. In the worst places on earth I am there and I am weeping for my children. How great you are in my eye. How great you are in my sight. It was for you I suffered and died. It was for you I came back from the dead. I must leave you but I will never be away from you. I must leave you but I will never leave you. I am with you night and day. I am with you till we see each other in your wonderful world to come."

John's regular vision returned. The purple haze was gone. Inside John the sound of that voice reverberated and made John see over the new mansion across the street. In the sky across the street there was a rainbow…a rainbow to keep John looking up instead of looking around.

Genesis 9:11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." 12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." 17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

A facetious story giving wisdom

This story first appeared in September, 2005, in the Virtual  Church web site at http://www.shepherdscare.net