Friday, October 23, 2020

FMF: Disappoint

In You our fathers trusted;
They trusted and You delivered them.
To You they cried out and were delivered;
In You they trusted and were not disappointed....
Be not far from me, for trouble is near;
For there is none to help.
(Psalm 22:4-5,11, NASB)


God does not disappoint, but sometimes He delivers in unexpected ways.

Let me tell you about my friend Sam.  He is in the process of becoming a pastor, but he also works at a cemetery.  He marries and buries, as all pastors do, in the most literal of ways.

One day he found himself working graveside for the funeral of a man who had killed his wife and child before killing himself.  The man's parents sat graveside and waited.  No one showed up, not even the pastor who was supposed to officiate the ceremony.

Where were this man's friends?  Where were the parent's neighbors?  Where was the "man of God" who was supposed to be ministering to them?  They had all disappointed.

Enter Sam.

I picture the scene like this.  In his maintenance uniform, he approaches the mourning couple.  He tells them that he works for the cemetery, but that he is also a pastor.  He then proceeds to read Scripture with them and pray for them.

Sam would probably squirm if he knew I was writing about him today.  He'd probably squirm just knowing his good deed had been told to me.  But in writing this story, I am not really bragging about Sam.  I am bragging about Sam allowing God to work through him.

That day he was God's representative, and God did not disappoint.  Even when everyone else did.



This post is a prompt from Five Minute Friday and was written in approximately five minutes. For more information, visit fiveminutefriday.com.

5 comments:

  1. What a sad, yet hope-filled story! May we all be like Sam, never letting an opportunity to minister to those in need pass us by.

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  2. What a story and very thought provoking. Sam really showed God's love in action to the couple. Loretta fmf #4

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  3. I hope God really blesses Sam for being such a willing minister of hope to that hurting couple. God does not disappoint; hope in him does not disappoint; and we should all be grateful.

    Kym, fmf#18

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  4. Amie, this is for Sam...and for you, for sharing his story.

    Is there hope for the bereaved
    when others turn away?
    Can a grace yet be received,
    will someone stand and say
    that love abides when friends do not,
    that compassion yet may live
    in a hurt the world forgot,
    is someone strong to give
    the hope 'twas born at Calvary,
    was born, and not withheld;
    is it you, or is it me,
    who is by God compelled
    to reach out, to come near,
    and dry forsaken, bitter tears?

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  5. Love, "God does not disappoint, but sometimes He delivers in unexpected ways." Thanks for sharing that beautiful story of Sam.

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