Whistling Angel

By John Fischer

This weekend was a busy one for us with our older children home and a birthday to celebrate. Then there’s the fact that when the word is out, my kids’ friends flock over and we can never be completely prepared for who might end up at our place.

So Saturday found me frantically moving up and down the aisles of the local market trying to get prepared for a late night barbeque and birthday dinner. The stress was starting to cave in on me as I saw how late it was getting and how much was yet to be done when suddenly I heard a man whistling a familiar tune quite loudly down the cereal aisle. Something struck me odd about it, but it didn’t register in my consciousness until he came around to the produce section and I realized he was whistling a hymn – “What A Friend We Have in Jesus,” to be exact.

The effect on me was immediate. My heart unwound from the knot it was in, and my spirit gave a big sigh. It was as if the eternal suddenly broke in on my stressed-out temporal existence and put me under heavenly citizen’s arrest. I looked at the guy as he rounded the corner at the milk section and disappeared whistling, and the words of the familiar hymn came back to me: Oh what peace we often forfeit/Oh what needless pain we bear/All because we do not carry/Everything to God in prayer.

That was me alright, forfeiting peace by simply forgetting to pray. And what a relief it was to be reminded again of what really matters. We can get so wrapped up in the busy lives we live that we forget why we live them.

Why was I throwing this party? Because I love my kids and am happy they are home. What if more people show up than I planned on? That means more people will be exposed to the hope that Christ is real in our family. As it was, one of the girls we just met this weekend is facing serious surgery in four days, and we were all able to reach out to her in significant ways, not to mention what we learned from her own perspective facing a life and death situation.

I don’t know who the guy was in the market, but I prefer to think he was an angel, come to bring me back to my center. Remember today that you have a friend in Jesus and He wants you to bring everything to Him in prayer, all the time. Believe me, it’s a lot better than stressing out.