Ecclesiastes
3:1-3 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every
activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to
plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear
down and a time to build…”
Naomi
believed that her time had come, and that the reason she had left home and hearth fifteen years before would be fulfilled. Yet, just as she prepares to leave she must make…
A Change in Plans
A
painful wailing interrupted Naomi’s sleep. She assured herself it was only a
dream, turned over, and pulled the covers close. A moment later, she heard
someone calling. She was on her feet. It was not a dream but her tía sobbing.
“Help, call the doctor!”
“I
am coming.” Naomi threw her bedroom door open and ran down the hall. When she
reached Tía’s room, she paused for a split second to pray and collect her
thoughts before she turned the knob. She opened the door and froze. Her
benefactor lay crumpled at the side of her bed.
Naomi
rushed to her side. “Do not try to move me. Call the doctor!”
Knowing
there was not a second to lose, Naomi ran to Tía’s office and dialed doctor’s
number. When he answered, she exclaimed, “Tía has fallen! Come at once!”
Doctor
Apayo arrived in what seemed like minutes. He examined Tía and spoke with her
privately. When he came out of the room, he told Naomi, “I usually discuss my
patient’s situation with a relative and no one else.” His gaze settled on her.
“But you are as close to her as a daughter would be if she had one. She will
not recover. She suffers from severe malnutrition, which caused her legs to bow
as a child. That, coupled with the deleterious effect of her rheumatoid
arthritis, makes it impossible for her bones to hold her weight anymore. At one
point, an operation might have helped, but she refused to have one, saying her niñas
needed her. These issues and her intermittent wheezing in the cold weather
necessitate complete bed rest. Though, as I said before, she will not recover.”
Naomi noticed his look of
concern and wondered at the timing of the unfortunate fall. “What does she
need?”
“She needs someone to live with
her, someone to take care of her.” The doctor’s gaze intensified, leaving Naomi
no doubt as to his thoughts.
“But, Doctor, I am to leave here
shortly.”
“I heard that. However, can you
not consider staying for her sake?
She helped you when you needed
help. Can you not be generous and do the same for her?”
Naomi wanted to yell “no.” Yet,
as much as she longed to go, she knew her heart might cause her to stay. “Have
you told her what you told me?” she asked in hushed tones as Tía called for
her.
“Of course,” the doctor said as
they walked toward the door. “Now hurry. She calls because she needs you.”
Perhaps as Naomi rushed to Tía’s bedroom to
tend her, she remembered that in Ezekiel 18:4 God said, “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the
father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die,” and had a change of heart. Or maybe she felt guilty for
even thinking of leaving the old woman at such a time.
Perhaps you have been
challenged as Naomi was. For giving up what you have striven for, even for a
short time, when confronted with someone else’s dire need may feel like you
must betray yourself. But remember in Jeremiah 29:11, God said, “For I know
the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you
hope and a future.”
My prayer for Naomi and you
is that you learn to wait upon the Lord and when he calls you that your highest
joy will be to answer his call. Until we meet again I wish you shalom…peace.
Not peace as the world sees it, but the abiding peace that refreshes.
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