The Call Button

THE CALL BUTTON - I stood in an ICU room beside a dear woman I have had the privilege of ministering to many times over the years.

The doctors have said she may only have a few days left.

As I held her hand and prayed, you could feel the peace of God settle over that room. It was one of those holy moments when words are few, but the presence of the Lord is unmistakable.

Then something happened that I will not soon forget.

I said Amen and held her hand and with her other hand, with what little strength she had, she reached for the call button beside her bed and pressed it. A moment later, a young nurse came into the room and gently asked what she needed.

In a weak voice, this precious woman looked at her and said, “I want my pastor to pray for you.”

There she was, lying in an ICU bed, facing the final stretch of her earthly journey, and her heart was still turned toward someone else.

That is faith.

That is love.

That is what it looks like when Jesus has so filled a person’s heart that even in weakness, they are still thinking about how to bless another soul.

I prayed for the nurse. I prayed for my dear friend. And I walked out of that room reminded once again that ministry does not always happen behind a pulpit.

Sometimes it happens beside a hospital bed.

Sometimes the strongest witness comes from the weakest body.

And sometimes, a person with only a few days left teaches the rest of us how to live.

Lord, give us hearts like that.