by Don Hatfield
park and answered yes I do. Gabe then said, “Suppose I told you that I was an expert in trees. I then told you that it was going to fall because of a large crack in it where lighting had struck it. To make you aware of the danger I went even farther and told you that it was going to fall very soon. Then to keep from people from getting hurt I even placed a small fence around it with signs saying danger tree could fall at any moment. Would you believe that you should stay as far away from that tree as you could?” I answered, “of course I would.” Gabe then ask, “Just supposed that you did not stay away and you were killed by the tree falling on you. Would that mean that you did not believe all the warnings and the signs?” I thought about what he was saying trying to get a grasp of where he was going. Then in a flash it hit me. I said to Gabe, “I see what you mean by the word believe. I can say I believe the tree could fall. I can say I believe the tree might fall. I can say I can even see the danger if I got to close. I can believe it in mind and yet not really accept it in my heart. Because if I accept it in my heart it will produce a change in my actions. Not only will I believe all the signs and warnings but that belief will always produce a change. Gabe, is that what they call saving faith?” Gabe smiled and said, “Glory to God, yes it is. It produces change because the one who can change you has entered into your spirit. You are born again. So, our verse says, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish. Don, those words should not perish mean that the person who believes will not be lost. Here is the glorious part. They will have everlasting life. They will have a life without end, a life that never ceases. However let us look at that word life. That word means life that is real and genuine. A life devoted to God. A life that is blessed by Him whether rich or poor, sick or healthy, in chains or free. For the circumstances of life should mean little to a Christian. He is our portion, He is our bread, and He is our life.” Gabe stopped and looked at me and tears welled up in my eyes. I choked back the tears and said to Gabe, “I want that life for I have so little of it now.” Gabe smiled and said, “It is yours for the receiving. It is freely given.” Then in a soft voice he said, “Don, I have to be going but you have started on the road to know the I Am. Why don’t you pray for us and thank him that He has worked this desire in your life.” I bowed my head and begin to pray out loud. I not only thanked Him for bringing me to this point in my life but I also ask for His forgiveness for taking so long to get there. For like the Israelite children I had spent so much of my life wandering in the wilderness when the Promised Land was just a few short steps away.
I stopped praying and opened my eyes to thank Gabe again and you guessed it. He was gone. Was he and angel? I do not know. I only know that he introduced me to my Savior and Creator in a way that I had never known before. I also know that if you seek Him you will find Him for He is not far from anyone of us and He in His way will open your eyes to Him. As I drove out of the park I spotted some graffiti painted on the bridge. The verse that was painted there was John chapter 14 and verse 6 which reads, I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Someone in an attempt to erase it had almost gotten rid of all the words except two. A huge smile crossed my face and a loud Amen came out of my lips for the two words that could be read so plainly were.
I AM
I could write the words The End but for us who believe it is only the beginning.
In Christ,
Don Hatfield
