Relationships - Part 2

When I wrote last night’s post, I figured there would be a part 2…and there is, but it looks a lot different than what I thought it would. God changed the look of it today, with one e-mail from a client. Before I actually tell you what the client said, let me first give you some history of my relationship with this particular gentle-man.

I lose track of time, but I’m going to estimate that about five years ago, I started doing business with this client who owns a local retail outlet. The reason I attained the account was because he and his current sales rep weren’t getting along. They had a disagreement, and this client was very upset with both his account rep as well as with our television station. So they switched reps and gave the account to me. That’s where our relationship started. I was the “clean up” crew. My job was to go in and mend fences, so to speak.

To be honest, it was a fairly easy job, simply because this guy is a good guy. He was not happy with his former rep, but he did not hold it against me. After our station management went in and apologized, the slate was wiped clean, and I was off to a fresh start with this client.

For whatever reason, we seemed to really hit it off. From the beginning, I could not get in and out of his office in less than an hour because we would always end up having some great conversations. A lot of times his wife would be there, and sometimes his kids would be running in and out, so we got to know each other on a personal level. Often times, our conversations would turn to “spiritual talk”. He knew who I was, and I knew who he was. And who he was spiritually, was a self-proclaimed agnostic. He was bold about it, but never cocky, and never argumentative…nor was I. I would listen to his thoughts on spirituality, and he would listen as I talked about my relationship with my best friend, Jesus.

I could tell he was searching. He knew WAY more about other religions than I did because he had researched nearly all of them. Mormon’s, Hindu’s, Islam, you name it, he knew about it. As the years went by, I saw a gradual increase in his “openness” toward Christ.

A few months ago, we had one of our best “spiritual” talks ever…and he seemed different this time. I could tell he was more open than ever. He talked about how he had recently gone to a funeral, and he felt God’s presence…I don’t know that he used those exact words, but that’s what he was saying. We talked for nearly two hours that day, and I left him with my “Blue Like Jazz” book.

We’ve had a couple of conversations since then, and they were SO good. It definitely seemed like there was something different. His searching seemed to becoming more intense, and I sensed him rounding a spiritual corner toward Christ. His constant searching touched my heart, and I began to pray more fervently for him. His mother was having some health issues, and she began asking him questions about God, so now, he wasn’t only searching for himself, but for his mom.

So, this brings me to today. Today, I walked in from lunch and checked my e-mail. I had an e-mail from him, that made me cry, no, weep. He was responding to some business info that I had sent him. Here’s what the e-mail said: (I copy and pasted it)

Thanks for the info. I have finished your "blue like jazz" book. It is at the store and you can stop at your leisure. I enjoyed it a great deal. Good to know others have walked a less traveled path. I will give you a good one from another book I am finishing. A quote from Pascal that there are two kinds of reasonable people"those who serve God with all their heart because they know Him, and those who seek Him with all their heart because they do not know Him" Keep that one and think of me. Merry Christmas Melissa.

Why did this e-mail touch me so? Maybe it’s because it so perfectly describes he and I. I serve God with all my heart because I know Him, and he is seeking God with all his heart because he doesn’t know Him. Maybe it’s because I can hear a passionate, almost desperate heart cry of one searching desperately for God to show Himself to him. Or maybe it’s because for years now, I’ve been on this journey with him, and he is now confessing to me, that he, a self proclaimed agnostic, is now seeking God with all his heart. The mere thought of that makes me weep because I know what comes next….The Word says this, “You will seek me and FIND me, when you seek me with ALL YOUR HEART”. Jeremiah 29:13

I’m claiming that verse for my client friend, and praying that this Christmas, he’ll get the greatest gift ever. The gift of eternal life. The gift of a relationship with Jesus. The gift of love lavished on him by our Heavenly Father, served up and poured out in only the way that our God can. If you were patient enough to read thru this, would you please say a prayer for my friend as well?

Wow. Our relationships. God cares about our relationships. Who has God placed in your life? We must be aware of our relationships. God has us in them for a reason…to glorify His name. He LOVES people.

“I sought to hear the voice of God and climbed the topmost steeple, but God declared: ‘go down again, I dwell among the people”. John Henry Newman