As Christians, we never know who is watching us or the circumstances that will occur to bring someone into our daily routine that needs to hear the reassurance that there is a God who cares and loves them. It may seem a strange fit for this lesson to be connected with the picture taken at the Audubon State Park in Henderson, Kentucky – the picture of the bridge over a small gully, but for what happened this morning, it will make perfect sense once I share what happened this morning and how I was able to be a “bridge” to someone involved in a spiritual battle.
But first, a little background about that bridge picture. At the Audubon State Park there are several hiking trails that offer spectacular opportunities for those who enjoy photography the way that I do. A few years ago during one of our Saturday outings, we walked along this one trail that rings a small pond within the center of the wildlife area. As we were making the last of the trail’s bends and heading back to the road, we came to this old wooden footbridge that spanned a small little gully at the southeastern end of nature area. It was a small bridge, but underneath it was a small little creek that flowed into the pond. The area around the creek was not only marshy, but was in a bit of a gully – an area that had most of the topsoil washed away that exposed the large rocks in the creek. Had it not been for the bridge, we would have had to get our feet wet, risk injury by walking on wet rocks, or would have had to go off the beaten path in search of a better area to cross. Not only was the bridge convenient, but it was just what we needed at that time to cross that obstacle.
Now, back to the events of this morning. I had an 8:30 a.m. appointment at the VA Clinic in Evansville and had arrived a few minutes early. already knowing that I was going to be there for a while, I opened up the KJV Bible application on my phone to do some reading when I was called back. I was shocked that I had actually been called back into the lab by 8:35 and was out by 8:45, but while I was in there, I had the first opportunity to minister to a fellow laborer in Christ. The nurse that normally draws my blood when I get lab work done asked me if I would pray for her and her husband. She told me that she didn’t want to go into specifics, but that there was a need that they needed to have met. Taking the advice of my pastor, Alan Ramsey, instead of waiting to pray later and running the risk of forgetting, I asked her could we pray about it right then, so she reached out her hand, and we both began to pray about her and her husband’s needs. In a few seconds, I felt another hand on my shoulder as one of the other nurses had heard us praying and she felt led to come in and join us in our prayer. As we said our amens, I quoted Matthew 18:20, For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
The third lady that had joined us looked at me and the other nurse and said she had forgotten about that scripture but knew when she heard us praying that she needed to be a part of it. As I was having the various blood samples taken, we had a miniature Bible study on the importance of prayer, how Christians should be ready at any time to pray for one another, and the importance of keeping a clear conscious when it comes to our daily walk with Christ. I had never imagined that this morning I would be given the opportunity to serve as a “bridge” between God’s reassuring love and a fellow Christian struggling with a need. I had no idea that I would be given the opportunity to serve as a “bridge” between two nurses that only a few minutes before had no idea that the other one was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. The second nurse commented that in their work environment at the VA, they are openly told by management not to discuss or share their religious views openly with co-workers or patients. When she heard us praying, she said she knew she would be safe joining us.
