Joe and I are retired industry executives and had been colleagues for years at the same company. Our wives also have the same career field – nursing. Together the four of us enjoyed dinners together, traded recipes, traveled, and wandered the stalls at farmers markets.
Because of our shared history, it surprised no one that both Joe and I ended up as adjunct business faculty, splitting a small office at the University of Tennessee.
Modern Medicine Could Not Cure It
In the summer of 2020, Joe called me one day to say he had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. He told me that modern medicine could manage it and perhaps slow down the progress, but not cure it. I was angry at the enemy for doing this to Joe.
On the phone that day, I momentarily hesitated– fearful that I might offend him if I prayed. Should I offer to pray even though I knew he had never given his life to Christ? I felt God prompting me, and Joe gladly accepted my offer to lift his circumstances heavenward.
Unwise Decisions
One of my undergraduate students, Nancy, showed up unexpectedly in my office early one spring morning during office hours. She tearfully related to me a series of unwise decisions, personal trials, and poor study habits that might jeopardize her graduation later that semester. Should I pray? I barely knew her. Not sure how she would react, I offered to pray, and through her tears, she listened as I asked God to guide and encourage her.
Ted, another faculty colleague, suddenly left a meeting without explanation, only saying he was immediately leaving town and driving home to North Carolina. Ted later told me that his wife had been diagnosed with aglioblastoma, a fast-growing brain tumor, after she had sought treatment for bouts of severe headaches. Should I offer to pray? Ted had never given his life to Christ, but gratefully accepted my multiple prayers for his wife’s healing.
I Should Know By Now
I’m almost Medicare age – so I should know by now that wherever I find myself on campus or in life, that people need the saving knowledge of Jesus and the ministering touch of His followers.
I should remember that God is always at work preparing the soil for any seeds I sow – no matter how poor my sowing skills are.
After many decades of offering to pray for an unbeliever’s circumstances, not a single one has ever said “No.” Why do I hesitate?
Jon Holztrager
Supply Chain – College of Business
University of Tennessee Knoxville
