Tim

Last week I met a young man named Tim. He is 13, and he seems like a very pleasant young man. I was touring all of the ropes course elements in my golf cart when I stopped at the climbing wall and listened as my instructors gave their instructions to the students who were waiting for their turn. My lead instructor said, "If you know where you are going, go ahead and get in line behind the belay bench where you want to climb."

Tim, who had climbed onto the rear seat of my cart, said, "I know where I am going."

I responded, "To heaven?" thinking that Tim would appreciate this question at church camp.

Tim said, "I'm not sure."

Talk about divine encounters. I spent a great deal of time talking to Tim. I tried to find out what made him so unsure about his eternal destiny, but I did not get very far. I asked him if we could pray. He said no as his eyes reddened and tears began to slide down his cheek. I became quite concerned about Tim. I asked about getting one of the sponsors from his church involved in our conversation. His answer was again, "No."

As long as our conversation was on spiritual matters he was very distraught. When we talked about climbing or camp or puppies his eyes would brighten. After talking to him for 15 minutes I tried one more time to talk about his spiritual condition. Immediately his expression saddened and tears began to form again. He said, "I don't know if I can go through this again."

As difficult as it was I honored his requests. I did not pray with him. I did not tell any of his sponsors about his trouble and I did not go to his cabin to talk to his youth minister. He had flatly denied my requests to do all of these things.

The next morning I told the story to my staff in our morning meeting, and the climbing wall staff said that Tim climbed there every day. They promised me that they would look out for him. That afternoon when I drove up to check he was half way up the wall. He saw me and smiled. He said, "In 5 years when I am old enough I am going to work for you."

I said, "I hope so Tim." I got in my golf cart and drove off. Since that day last week I have prayed for Tim every day, and I have had to trust that God is more concerned about Tim than I am. Maybe I should have disregarded Tim's requests and talked to someone, but I decided not to. It just seems to me that it is a bit hypocritical to disrespect someone's wishes as I am encouraging someone to respect the wishes of their creator.

So what do I do now? Well, although I have been quite skeptical of prayer lately I have been running into many signs and symptoms in my life that are pointing me back to the discipline of prayer. One of those signs is a book that I have been reading, "Prayer," by Philip Yancey. This book has been moving me along in my understanding of prayer and its purpose and power. It isn't so much that the book is answering all of my questions, but it is letting me know that I am not the only one with questions.

Through this book I am realizing that the purpose of prayer is not more stuff. The purpose of prayer is not the imposition of my will on the universe. That would make God my servant, which is not so. Prayer is a time when my heart and will and mind can be opened up to the heart and will and mind of the Almighty. I can share my concerns with Him and I can have His concerns poured into me.

So what do I do now? Well, God, I met this kid last week. His name was Tim and...