I have to be cryptic in this thought because I want to protect this guy’s privacy. Despite the fact that he treated me badly on a regular basis, I am so happy for him.
Speaking cryptically about the organization, he was the big shot and I was the peon. My job required me to see him on a regular basis and every time I saw him he spewed venom against me. He actually threatened hurt me vocationally by complaining to my superiors because he did not want to deal with me. I saw it as a threat to take food out of the mouths of my wife and children. It was my job to see him, to go through him and he knee it. Then something happened.
It was as if he dropped off the face of the earth. God had apparently moved him. For more than 20 years I wondered what happened to this man who contributed to making my vocation a living hell. A couple of times, I searched social media to see if I could get a line on what happened to him. Suddenly, there he was on television. Just the other day one of those local organizations that helps people get on their feet who had hit rock bottom was helping him get back on his feet. They spotlighted him. How he fell is a moot point. The point is that he fell and somewhere between the fall and the recovery, he seems to be a different man. His speech was seasoned with grace and thankfulness and I cannot be happier for him.
I was going to call this TfTD, “ Be careful How You Treat People”, because the Bible says, “Touch not mine annointed and do my prophet no harm”, (Psalm 105.15). However, at this writing, my thoughts have changed it focus, because this man’s odessy encourages me to remind others that no matter who they are, or what their status is, that there is room at the cross and at the table of Thanksgiving for rhem.
God bless the heart of Ira Stanphill, who wrote this song in 1946:
“The cross upon which Jesus died,
Is a shelter in which we can hide;
And its grace so free is sufficient for me,
And deep is its fountain as wide as the sea
There’s room at the cross for you,
There’s room at the cross for you,
Tho millions have come, There’s still room for one
Yes, there’s room at the cross for you.
Tho millions have found Him a friend,
And have turned from the sins they have sinned,
The Savior still waits to open the gates
And welcomes a sinner before it’s too late.
There’s room at the cross for you,
There’s room at the cross for you,
Tho millions have come, There’s still room for one
Yes, there’s room at the cross for you.
The hand of my Savior is strong,
And the love of my Savior is long;
Through sunshine or rain, through loss or in gain,
The blood flows from Calvary to cleanse every stain.
There’s room at the cross for you,
There’s room at the cross for you,
Tho millions have come, There’s still room for one
Yes, there’s room at the cross for you.”
Life Step Ministries 