Listener: I thought that Holy Spirit had given me no Daily Bread message for today, but He has just flooded my heart with a recurrence of the almost overwhelming compassion which preceded yesterday’s post. I was checking to see if any names of critically ill Covid-19 patients had been submitted for the prayer list, but there were none. Then Holy Spirit began to bring memory pictures to my mind: Of my ninety-one year-old mother sitting in the hospital beside the bed of my step-father, refusing to leave his side for days as he lay dying, not even conscious of her presence. Of my mother, the day before her death at ninety-nine, emerging momentarily from the fog of dementia, grasping my hand and saying, “Please don’t leave me.” And I didn’t; I held her hand as she breathed her last breath. Of my grandfather years ago, hospitalized for more than a week with five family members taking turns night and day so that he would not be left alone. Even though he had a professional sitter with him and doctors and nurses to care for his physical needs, we were there for his emotional and spiritual needs, to comfort him and to pray for him. I was blessed to be the one who was with him, holding his hand, the night that he died, Without a doubt these memories intensify my compassion for those contagious Covid-19 patients who are dying without loved ones by their side and for those family members who are denied the comfort of being there. Even if we are unable to obtain the names of those patients who are at the point of death, let us pray most earnestly for them and for those who are grieving for them. As Holy Spirit told us yesterday, He knows their names. He is the Comforter; He will comfort both the living and the dying. Also, since the Holy Spirit led me to bring these messages to you, I believe that a miraculous movement of healing must be God’s will. Jesus is the Great Physician, I believe that He is ready for His healing power to be exercised in these ICU units so that some, hopefully many, will be healed in the Name of Jesus, What a wonderful witness that will be! Let us pray that God’s Will Be Done. Shalom.
