The Right Thing to Do

Howard and the pastor were talking at lunch on Sunday about how the Holy Spirit had moved that morning, and one of them said it reminded him of the song, “It’s Beginning to Rain.” “Why don’t you help me with the service tonight and sing that song?” Pastor asked Howard. He agreed, then spent most of the rest of the afternoon practicing and looking up the song on the internet to refresh himself with the words. After his nap, there was scarcely time to gather his guitar and materials and head to church.

We were almost there with a couple of minutes to spare when our cell phone rang. It was “Brittany.” “Will you pick me up for church?” the voice of the young girl came faintly over the phone.

“Oh, Brittany, we’re running late,” I said. “Can anyone else bring you? Howard has a part in the service and has to get there.” She said no, but Howard was shaking his head and pointing to his watch. I put my hand over the phone and mouthed, “We can’t ‘not’ get her!” His sigh of resignation made me tell her we would come, but to call earlier next time.

She was waiting outside and jumped into the car, all smiles. “Boy, I’m glad you picked me up. They are going to watch a bad movie in there, and Mama said I couldn’t watch, but I wanted to come to church anyway!” Thank the Lord we had come and got her! And to our amazement, the service hadn’t started when we got back.

As the song service was coming to a close, someone spoke up and said, “Can we sing, “It’s Beginning to Rain”?” I couldn’t believe my ears! Was this a confirmation that the Lord wanted the song sung tonight, or just a coincidence? I wondered what Howard would do, since the congregation had already sung the song, but when his time came to sing, he handled it with grace. He sang a couple of choruses first, then plunged into “It’s Beginning to Rain”; the congregation sang along even more enthusiastically, and the Lord blessed.

In Bible Study the next night, the scripture was read that says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” John 15:13. I have heard that besides the obvious meaning of dying for someone, this scripture can mean laying aside what is important to you (your life) to sacrifice your time to help another. I think that is what we did for Brittany. What if she had stayed home and somehow viewed the movie? Who knows how it would have stuck in her mind and affected her later? As it turned out, she was blessed by her time in church and was a blessing to others. It seemed that God had indicated his approval for the song, too!