Sunday Chronicles # 281 1/16/22
Recently I read a story in a Guideposts book that made me think about how prayer changes things and people. Guidepost credits the story to J. Sidlow Baxter, a Scottish preacher, theologian, and author. But in research on the Web, I found several versions circulating, one published by Pilgrim Tract Society, Randleman, N.C. Christian Information Network.
Here’s a shortened form of the story:
JESUS, IT’S JIM
The preacher, a puzzled frown on his face, hurried to speak to the church caretaker.
“I am worried,” he explained. “Every day at 12 o’clock a shabby old man goes into the church. I can see him through the parsonage window. He only stays a few minutes. It seems most mysterious. I wish you would keep an eye open and question the fellow.”
The caretaker watched for a few days, and every day at twelve o’clock the shabby figure would arrive. He stuffed his cap in his pocket and went to stand before the altar. One day the caretaker accosted him: “Look here, my friend, what are you up to, going into the church every day?”
“I go to pray,” the old man replied quietly.
“Now come,” the caretaker said sternly, “You only stay a few minutes, not long enough to pray. I have watched you. You just go up to the altar, stand there, then come away.”
“Yes, that’s true. I cannot pray a long prayer, but every day at 12 o’clock I comes and says, ‘Jesus, it’s Jim.’ I wait a minute, then comes away. It’s just a little prayer, but I guess He hears me.”
Sometime later Jim was knocked down by a truck, and suffered a broken leg and other injuries. He was taken to the city hospital where he settled down quite happily in a ward for poor men. That ward had been a sore spot to the hospital for a long time. Some of the men were cross and miserable, others did nothing but grumble from morning till night. Try as the nurses would, the men did not improve. But after Jim arrived, slowly but surely things changed. The men stopped grumbling and were cheerful and contented. They took their medicine, ate their food, and settled down without a complaint.
One day, hearing a burst of happy laughter, a nurse asked: “What has happened to you guys? You are such a cheerful lot of patients now. Where have all those grumbles gone?”
“Oh, it’s old Jim,” one patient replied. “He is always so happy, never complains although we know he must have a lot of pain. He makes us ashamed to make a murmur. We can’t gripe when Jim’s about, he’s always so cheerful.”
The nurse crossed over to where Jim lay. His silvery hair gave him an angelic look. His quiet eyes were full of peace. “Well, Jim,” she greeted him, “the men say you are responsible for the change in this ward. They say you are always happy.”
“Aye, Nurse, that I am. I can’t help being happy. You see, Nurse, it’s my visitor. Every day He makes me happy.”
“Your visitor?” The nurse was puzzled. She had always noticed that Jim’s chair was empty on visiting days, for he was a lonely old man without any relatives. “Your visitor,” she repeated, “But when does he come?”
“Every day,” Jim replied, the light in his eyes growing brighter. “Yes, every day at 12 o’clock He comes and stands at the foot of my bed. I see Him, and He smiles and says,
“Jim, it’s Jesus.”
“This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; He saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and He delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in the Lord.” Psalm 34:6-8, NIV
Prayer is not a matter of fancy words: it’s the desires of the heart being expressed to God. It brings change; most often first to the person praying, then to the persons or problems being prayed about. When you take your prayer requests to the throne, remember Jim, his gentle humility, his faithfulness to pray, and the shining light of his life of joy. It doesn’t take big words.
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Personal Notes: A cold day with snow on the ground in Springfield, MO. Gray clouds hover low, occasionally dropping a few bits of ice. Maranatha Village has a more extensive outbreak of COVID, some staff and some residents in this building as well as in private homes here on campus. So far I have had no symptoms of COVID.
I continue to do exercises and work to gain strength. If it’s happening at all, it’s very slow. One of the sunny days this week as I sat inside the glass patio doors, talking on the phone, a dove came to the patio and looked in at me. She was full grown and perhaps looking for a place to nest. After eyeing me for a few minutes, she walked away. With snow on the ground, she may have been hunting food. We still have bird food in our feeder, but I think she was too large to access it. My only sister, who was a woman of God and is now with Jesus, believed that having a dove visit you was a sign of God’s favor. I hope she was right!
Thanks to everyone who writes a comment on Facebook, or sends an e-mail or card. Being alone 20 plus hours out of every 24 makes me appreciate all forms of communication. Thanks for caring…jwb
Out of Church Tales 