The Voice of Conviction

Have you ever heard a voice convicting you to do something and you tried to ignore it only for it to get louder and louder? That's what happened to me yesterday. Maybe the voice was louder than usual because I just finished reading The Shack during the my trip last week (which is a whole separate post itself) or maybe I was meant to be at that particular place at that exact moment. Isn't God wonderful like that? So, I'll give you the story that involved this voice of conviction. I had a doctor's appt. yesterday afternoon and when I pulled up at the hospital and parked, I noticed a BMW beside me and this older lady who was sitting on the hood of the car. She seemed nice enough, but a little distraught and embarrassed. As soon as I got out, she felt the need to explain why she was hanging out in the parking lot. She explained that she had lost her car key in the hospital and was too tired to go back in and look for it. I, of course, was curious as to why she would rather wait outside for someone to bring her an extra key rather than go inside and look for the key she dropped. I responded, "Bless your heart...we all have days like that, don't we?" She then told me that her house had burned to the ground yesterday and her husband had had a heart attack. Man, talk about a bad day! I felt so bad for her and wished her luck and went inside for my appt. I came out an hour later and she was still waiting for her ride. I asked if she had someone on the way and she said she didn't know what was taking them so long, but that "they" were at the house trying to see if there was anything that was salvageable. I asked her if she needed a ride and she declined and said that she wanted to make sure her car wasn't left in the parking lot, so she would just wait for the extra key. I asked if her husband had the heart attack before the fire and she explained that he had gone into save some things and had a heart attack as a result of the smoke inhalation and stress from the fire. She had been visiting him in ICU that afternoon and thinks she dropped her key somewhere on the ICU floor, but she said she just didn't have the energy to go in and look for it. I really think that she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. I told her that I was sorry and got in my car and started pulling out of the parking lot and all I could hear was this voice saying, "go back and help her." I ignored it at first telling myself that I was already on my way out of the parking lot and needed to go finish my errands. But, I couldn't shake the feeling. I went around the edge of the parking lot and pulled up the front doors of the hospital and went in and asked the lady up front if someone had turned in a key. I explained about the lady outside and how she really needed someone to help her. The lady called Security and they did indeed have one single key, so I went back out to the lady and asked if she was missing a single key. She said, "yes" and I told her I would go back in to see if I could get it. Her eyes lit up and she said, "you don't know how great that would be." Unfortunately, the key that Security had was not the right one, but I did manage to get some contact info for Security so that the lady could contact them with her cell in case they found it. I went back outside and broke the news to the lady and told her how sorry I was, but she said that it was enough that I had tried. I then told her that she must be a faithful servant for the Lord to test her so much in one weekend. She said, "he's been testing me all my life and I don't know how much more I can take." My heart ached for her, but I said,"well, I've learned from experience that when you get hit with several bad things in a row...that just means that good things are around the corner. It's hard, but hang in there and keep the faith." With that, she looked up and tears rolled down her face and she thanked me for coming back to check on her. I asked one last time if she needed a ride and she again declined, so I wished her luck again and left. I realize that I offered no real help to this lady since I wasn't successful in finding her key nor do I know what happened to her after I left, but I honestly think she just needed someone to have some compassion for her and offer a loving hand when her world was crashing down around her. The most impressive thing was that I felt like I was the one that benefitted the most from taking the time to go back and help her. The Holy Spirit is a beautiful thing when you allow it to intervene.