When You Feel All Alone..

"He said he was going to commit suicide.." It was nearly two o'clock in the morning, when the operator call me and give me that message. I was serving as a pastor in the mountain community, overlooking a beautiful lake, in a large valley in the Seirras. The sheriff on duty was on a call, 75 miles away, and the operator felt that the situation was critical. The man on the line had a loaded gun and he was drunk. As I talked to him, I knew he was serious about taking his own life. I convinced him to let me come to his house.

I will never forget walking into his house. He was still on the phone and he yelled for me to come in. As I walked in, I saw four or five empty bottles of vodka laying in the floor around the front room. I walked back toward the voice and saw other empties sitting on the kitchen counter and the table. As I entered a den, he was sitting by the phone with a 38 caliber revolver in his hand. I walked over to him and asked for the pistol. He looked at me and I could see the pain in his eyes. I don't even know why I said it but I remember saying, "It's okay, I am here to help you."

He handed me the revolver and the tears filled his eyes. He whispered back, "That's what I need. I need someone to help me."

He and his wife had retired to the mountains. It seemed like just a few months had passed and she became ill and had passed away. He didn't really know anyone at the lake and his loneliness had driven him to the bottle and despair. He kept saying, "I am all alone, Ed. I haven't got anybody who cares a dang about me."

We talked for a long time and I told him that they were people who did care. There were caring communities of people all over the area. Those people who cared where called Christians. We talked well into the day. As I shared about Christ, I could see an interest but he wouldn't ask the Lord for help. He kept coming back to his loneliness and his despair. He would ask me, "Who could love me? Look at me. I am a drunk."

I convinced him to come to our midweek service that night. I left and got cleaned up and drove back to pick him up. When he came out to the car, I could see that he hadn't cleaned up. He hadn't shaved in several days, his had comb his hair with a wet washcloth and he smelled, no, reeked, of alcohol.

We were the first to arrive and he sat down in the back row. As I prepared for the services up on the platform, the sanctuary doors opened and one of older ladies walked in. She was a beautiful Christian woman and very dignified. She saw the man in the back row and walked over to him. He stood to shake her hand. I couldn't help but watch the scene unfold in front of me. I remember her pausing and looking at the man. I could see her taking in his own whole appearence. The unshaven face, the alcohol stained clothes, the smell. I wondered how she would react.

As the man reached out his hand, she reached out to him and pulled him into her arms and just held him in a long and poignent hug. At first, he seemed to freeze in her arms, and then I saw his body begin to heave in quiet sobs in this Christian woman's arms. She lifted one hand and began to pat him on the back. While she was still holding him, another member of our church walk in and saw the scene. She, too, went over and began to reach out to the man and pray.

I don't remember much about the service. I remember that the man sat with the women and I remember, when I asked for those that needed pray, that he came forward and gave his heart to the Lord. I knew him for several more years until we took another pastorate and I know that he served the Lord until his death several years ago.

Making A Difference..

What made the difference in this man's life? Was it my words that fateful night? No. Was it the message I shared that Wednesday evening? No. It was a Christian who simply reached out and touch someone with the love and the compassion of Christ.

You see there are a lot of lonely, hurting people in this world. They are looking for someone who cares. They are looking for someone who reach out to them and touch their lives. That is the work of the Church. To go out and share the love of Christ with hurting people. To be his hands and his arms to a world that needs someone to hold them and tell them that it is okay and that there are people who really care.

Maybe you are hurting right now. Maybe you feel like no one cares. There are people who really care. These people were once just like you but now they have been touched by the love of Christ. They know the heartache and the pain that this world can inflict and they want to help. They are just a telephone call away. Why not call right now.