Tuesday will be too late

It was a cold December morning several years ago, when I was lying in bed snuggling down beneath lots of warm blankets. Resting in the twilight slumber, half-way between awake and asleep, I heard a voice. "Her life force is going out of her. Tuesday will be too late." Before I had a chance to understand this message, suddenly the warmth and sense of security which embraced me was quickly taken away. I felt as though I had been pushed off a tall building and was free falling straight to the ground. Instantly, my heart was racing, I was gasping for breath and a cold sweat was pouring down my face. I sat bolt up right, trying to regain my composure. The words, "What was that!?" rang through my head. I tried to shrug off the incident, but the words haunted my mind. Whose life force was going out of her? Today was Monday...that meant something was going to happen very soon.

I got out of bed and tried to go through my daily routine. I suddenly thought about a family friend, Bea. She was in a nursing home about 20 minutes from our home. Was she the person who was going to die? My mom and I had planned on visiting her tomorrow, but if the voice was correct, tomorrow (Tuesday) would be too late. I asked and almost pleaded with my mom to go visit Bea. My mom informed me that she did not feel well, and tomorrow she had a doctor's appointment which was down the street from Bea's nursing home. We would visit Bea the next day. Knowing the discussion about visiting Bea was over, I tried to go through the rest of my day as normally as possible. I kept praying Bea was ok and that she would be alive when we visited her.

The next day, I nearly sprang from my bed, hurrying to get ready to go visit Bea. I was ready in a flash and was pushing my mom out the door. When we arrived at the nursing home, I was relieved and overjoyed to see Bea, alive and happily sitting in her room. During our entire visit, I kept thanking God and rejoicing Bea was alive. Bea looked in great shape, and my fears about her dying were quenched.

For the rest of the week, I pushed aside the entire incident about hearing the voice and about being in a panic about Bea dying. I went on with my life, burying the incident into my memories.

The following Monday night I was extremely tired. At 7 p.m., I retired to bed and prepared to go to sleep very early. Around 7:30 p.m., my mom came into my room. Her face was full of deep sorrow, and giant tears were rolling down her face. She told me she had just found out her aunt was very sick and was in a nursing home receiving hospice care. My mom said she could see I was ready for bed and said we should go visit my aunt in the morning. (My mom had recently been in a car accident and was unable to drive. If she wanted to go anywhere, I was her chauffeur.) Without a moment's hesitation, I told my mom we would visit her aunt tonight. I just needed some time to change out of my pajamas and into street clothes. In less than a half an hour, we were in the car on our way to visit my mom's aunt.

When we arrived at the nursing home facility, I dropped my mom off and parked the car. I was extremely tired and told my mom I would wait in the car. When my mom arrived in her aunt's room, my mom's aunt opened her eyes when she heard my mom's voice. After a brief while, her aunt closed her eyes; she could not speak, but rested quietly. My mom stayed for about a half hour. My mom then said good-bye and left.

The next morning, my mom came into my bedroom. Again, her face was tear-streaked and tremendous grief radiated from her body. My mom informed me that her aunt had passed away at 2 a.m. The last time her aunt opened her eyes was the night before when my mom came to visit. My mom left my room. I immediately thanked God that I had gotten out of bed to drive my mom to the nursing home.

As I was praying to God, suddenly the words from the week before resonated in my mind. "Her life force is going out of her. Tuesday will be too late." "Oh LORD!!! Today is Tuesday! Early this morning my mom's aunt died. Her life force did go out of her! If we would have waited until this morning to visit my mom's aunt, it would have been too late!!! Oh my! The message was from You, LORD! Thank You for giving me the message. Thank You! I know I got out of bed last night without hesitation because I must have been thinking about Your message. Despite my fatigue and exhaustion, I knew I had to drive my mom to the nursing home. Our LORD, thank You! I know how much the visit meant to my mom. Thank You for allowing me to be Your instrument. Thank You for allowing me to hear Your voice." As I ended my prayer, tears streamed down my face. I was so grateful God felt it necessary to deliver this very important message to me. I was so grateful I had heeded His words. Words cannot describe the immense love and gratitude I felt at that moment to God. After a long while, I collected myself. I needed to leave my room and comfort my mom. I needed to share God's love with my mom.