I was visiting a dear friend in the hospital. He had both kidneys transplanted a few years back and he was in the hospital under life threatening conditions. They were not sure how long he was going to live. When you are standing by the bed of someone you care about and their family the words to say do not come easy. I want to speak words that are true comfort and not made up to pacify the moment. You can see I am not the only one, but everyone’s face around the room has the sign of the lost for words to speak.
The doctors and nurses were doing all the right things they were trained to do and beyond. The machines and tubes were doing there assigned jobs to keep him alive. The cards and flowers sitting in the window seal and table brought warmth to the room. The cards standing on their ends with different pictures and words added a homeliness to the hospital room. Hospitals have a strange feeling to me because I know the hospital is the most of the time the last door before death, even with routine surgeries it maintains that air about it before death. Hospitals subconsciously represent the circle of life. We are born there as babies without knowledge of the event, but we return there for most with full knowledge before death is nearby.
ICU is streaming with busy people flowing in and out of rooms doing their jobs at the best of their abilities, yet for the one in the bed an air of loneliness shrouds them. The halls have people walking towards the room the nurse told them their loved was located with more flowers, cards, and fruit baskets. Their faces tell the story of who they are getting ready to visit. The saying, a picture is worth a thousand words become very clear as you watch their faces go by. The visitors you see are of all ages from the very young to the very old.
As I stand there by the hospital bed of my friend not knowing what to say or do because all was being done and said by the staff of the hospital that has seen these conditions a thousand times. I was in a reality check of truth knowing there was absolutely NOTHING I personally could do for him. It did not matter if I was the fastest or strongest man on earth it was as though I was the slowest and weakest man on earth in the face of my dying friend. It did not matter if I was the quickest wit, the smartest man, or the most skilled man alive in the building my friend was facing his time and chance without any of us in control. This battle of life had elements beyond anyone in that room.
A few words were spoken whether he heard them or not no one truly knew. Silence was upon the people in the room only the machines made their noises of operations. As I was feeling it was time to leave in all my helplessness I could not leave without giving my friend the only thing I could offer – words of prayer. When you pray you start thinking about the people in the Bible that faced similar situations. You know if God wanted to just speak the word he would heal our friend. As I was closing with what few words from my heart I could pray the “Still Small Voice” spoke to me to say in the prayer to him that “he had the best Roommate that anyone could ever have.”
Later, he started a full recovery to the surprise of the hospital staff. He had a great number of people doing the same thing I was doing – praying. He is now back in everyday life working, playing with his daughter, being a husband once again. He was a man who allowed God into his life and was ready to meet his Maker before this sickness hit him.
Those words ignited something in me. I had never thought of it or heard it in that fashion before. “He had the best Roommate that anyone could ever have” The wheels of understanding began to roll down the road of my mind with the headlights shining so brightly. When a person under the “freedom of choice” chooses to allow the Word of God and His Spirit to live inside of them. They are no longer alone inside their bodies. They have God as a roommate inside their minds, hearts, and souls. There is a several passages that speaks of God being our roommates: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”, “The Spirit of truth… you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”
“The best Roommate that anyone could ever have” changed me from that moment on. As a child there were extremely lonely times. As a teenager being all alone became the normal against all my efforts to have friends, girlfriends, and best friends. As an adult the extraordinary lengths I would go to attain fellowship. For many decades of efforts and long desires to have someone by your side who understood you, safe to be yourself without any repercussions, or ulterior motives. I now understand if I never acquire the human fellowship I will never be alone because I have “The best Roommate that anyone could ever have” and whatever we face that is bigger than us our Roommate has it all under control.
Living life to its fullest can be an experience beyond the surface you see physically when you have “The best Roommate that anyone could ever have” living inside you. I leave you with this thought, “Do you have a roommate inside?” If your answer is yes, is it “The best Roommate that anyone could ever have“? If your answer is no, then I would encourage you seek Him out to be your “best Roommate that anyone could ever have“. Thank you, and have a great day in-spite of what comes your way.