Never Too Busy

Author: Pastor Mitch
January 31, 2019
Last year, a letter was discovered in Nancy Reagan’s personal effects – dated August 7, 1982 – handwritten by Ronald Reagan to his father-in-law. On that particular Saturday afternoon, the president of the United States was not just writing to his ailing father-in-law. No doubt Reagan was concerned about his father-in-law’s health, but even more than that, he was concerned about his eternal health, since he was a self-declared atheist.

Reagan was 71, less than a year and a half from the time he had been shot in the chest by a bullet that had ricocheted off his limousine. He understood what it meant to face his own mortality, often sharing that he was living on borrowed time from God.

Apparently, it was not the first time God had showed Reagan a personal miracle. When he was governor of California, Reagan developed a painful, non-healing ulcer. All medical treatments failed to produce healing. Then one morning, he discovered his symptoms were completely gone. That same morning, he received two letters from people telling him they and others were praying for him. Later that same day, Reagan learned that there was a small group of his personal staff praying for him early every morning.

A physician’s appointment two weeks later confirmed that not only did Reagan no longer have an ulcer, but there was no indication that he'd ever had one. Reagan understood this as God answering those many prayers. But he knew his skeptical father-in-law might dismiss this as coincidence, so he presented him with more to consider in the letter.

Reagan wrote, “Some seven hundred years before the birth of Christ the ancient Jewish prophets predicted the coming of a Messiah…. All in all, there were a total of one hundred and twenty-three specific prophecies about his life all of which came true. Crucifixion was unknown in those times, yet it was foretold that he would be nailed to a cross of wood. And one of the predictions was that he would be born of a virgin . . . But Loyal [father-in-law], I don’t find that as great a miracle as the actual history of his life. Either he was who he said he was or he was the greatest faker & charlatan who ever lived. But would a liar & faker suffer the death he did when all he had to do to save himself was admit he’d been lying?”

Reagan continued, “The miracle is that a young man of 30 years without credentials as a scholar or priest began preaching on street corners. He owned nothing but the clothes on his back and he didn’t travel beyond a circle less than one hundred miles across. He did this for only 3 years and then was executed as a common criminal. But for two thousand years, he has had more impact on the world than all the teachers, scientists, emperors, generals and admirals who ever lived, all put together.”

And with that, Reagan pleaded with his father-in-law to turn to God and place his trust in Jesus Christ. Only God knows if his heart was turned to Jesus.

But this story struck my heart. If the most powerful man in the world had time to share Jesus, then surely I have the time as well. Let’s never forget the people placed in our lives who still don’t know Jesus. No matter how busy we find ourselves, may we be willing tools in the hands of God to reach people for Jesus!
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