He Never Said a Word

This is part two of a series on Carl, a 72 year old gentleman referred to Hospice for lymphoma. In part one Carl manifested how God sometimes asks us to do things that might seem “crazy” But we also learned that “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise (I Corinthians 1:18-31). My hope and expectation is that part two will wet your thirst for the deeper things of life; not for religion, not for right interpretations; but for God Himself. Listen to Carl’s story:

“I was out farming when my neighbor came along the road. I owned two little farms and he did to. He always treated me like dirt and accused me of things I didn’t do. As I was driving home from the grocery store it started eating at me. I got to thinking about it. What I was doing was feeling sorry for myself. All of a sudden somebody appeared in my car beside me. I never even heard the door open and close. Besides, I was driving down the road at a good speed. He was a big man, over six foot tall, all dressed in white. I couldn’t see his face, just his side. His face was all white. I couldn’t turn my head but he was sitting beside me. He never said a word. I wondered if it was Jesus or an Angel. You talk about cold chills! I forgot all about my problems. It was like if someone gave you a million dollars and cheered you up. You would forget about all your problems. He came to encourage me and he did. I straightened up right then. It got my mind off my self. He never said a word but he encouraged me. When I did turn my head he was gone. I still get blessed by it today.”

Carl and I concurred that its God’s “manifest presence” that we long for, that truly satisfies. In the light of God’s presence, without a word being heard or spoken; fear, anger and self-pity are vanquished. A.W. Tozer, a popular Christian author described it more eloquently than Carl and I: “For it is not mere words that nourish the soul but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts. (“The Pursuit of God”)…“Theological knowledge is about God. While this is indispensable it is not sufficient. It bears the same relation to man’s spiritual need as a well does to the need of his physical body. It is not the rock-lined pit for which the dusty traveler longs, but the sweet, cool water that flows up from it. It is not intellectual knowledge about God that quenches man’s ancient heart-thirst, but the very Person and Presence of God Himself.” (“Keys to the Deeper Life”)

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. (Psalm 42:1-2, NIV)