Whispers
Time marched on as the world around Evan came to a dead stop. Once his prayer had started, the dam had burst wide open and everything that had ever been on his heart flowed out. Things long forgotten had finally surfaced. The drought of tears had ended.
The root of all his frustrations had been loneliness, and the pain he had long refused to deal with overwhelmed him. A year had passed since asking Audrey out, and he still wasn’t over that. He hadn’t moved on because there hadn’t been another failure to move on to. More than anything, he wanted a relationship with someone who would love him with half the love he had to give, and all he had encountered was disinterest and heartbreak.
That was why he had pursued the man in white. From the moment he had walked up to Richard Cade and proclaimed to have the answer to his problem, Evan had been silently begging, pleading for him to reveal the answer to his. Therein, he realized, was the real failure. He had been chasing a stranger for the solutions, when he should have been going to God.
Richard had claimed he had been praying when Evan remembered the man talking to him. When he saw the two together again, they were praying. Richard Cade had a dilemma and had simply brought it to Jesus. The man in white was only the messenger who had carried God’s answer.
Evan’s eyes opened at that thought. That’s it! Why didn’t I think of that earlier? He shot up and rushed over to his bible, leaving the nearly melted compress behind. He was only slightly surprised, though he admitted he shouldn’t have been, to find it open to Hebrews. A light from the window caused a shadow that underlined the tope line of chapter thirteen, verse two. Thirteen-two. He hadn’t missed the reference, after all. He’d just misheard it. He read it aloud:
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Evan had to laugh. It was so simple, and he’d been too keyed up to put it together. All this time he’d been almost like Jacob wrestling with his angel. He even had the nagging injury to show for it.
A knock at the door interrupted his musings. Wow, Lord, he thought wryly. You don’t even give me a few seconds to catch my breath. As if on cue, the knocking went silent for a few seconds before resuming. Thank you, he smiled, the opened the door.
On the other side was an elderly gentleman in a gray, pinstripe suit. He displayed a warm, confident smile mixed with a slight touch of bewilderment, as if not entirely sure why he was here. He held out his left hand to Evan.
“Hello. My name is Edward Porter. I understand you’ve been looking for me.”
“P..pardon?” Evan responded as he shook the man’s hand.
“Oh, that’s right. He did say you referred to me by my attire. I do apologize. My other suit had to suffice while this one was in the cleaners.”
“He?”
“Our mutual friend, Richard Cade. Said you were looking for someone in a white suit and hat.”
Evan’s eyes widened. “You were at the Steakhouse Saturday night, right?” Please tell me you were.
“I’m afraid Saturday night I was in my hotel room. I’ve been fasting for about a week concerning a matter that I’ve been praying over for years. Richard and I only met just yesterday.”
“You weren’t there eating.”
“No. I wasn’t.”
Evan felt the frustration creeping in again, but he held it in check. “I don’t suppose you were at our church this past Sunday, were you?”
“Yes, I was. Yesterday and this morning, too.”
“With Richard and our pastor.”
“You were there?” the man asked, seeming pleasantly surprised.
“Only briefly,” Evan replied.
“You have such a wonderful prayer room. My time in it has been absolutely electric.”
“Yes,” Evan agreed, rubbing his right arm. “I know what you mean. May I ask what you were praying about?”
“My young friend, I would love to, but Richard was so excited when we finished, he made me promise not to tell anyone until he announced it to the rest of the church.”
“Next Sunday morning.”
“Oh, no. He said he wouldn’t be able to wait that long. Tomorrow night.”
“Interesting. Would you like to come in, Mr. Porter? This hall can be a little drafty sometimes.”
“Actually, I’m afraid I need to be going. Richard did ask me to give you a message, though.”
“What’s that?”
“He said he wouldn’t be able to accept that job at your firm.”
“Thank you.”
“Will we be seeing you tomorrow, Evan, is it?”
“Yes, and I wouldn’t miss it.”
“I’ll see you, then.” He reached out and shook Evan’s left hand again, then departed. Evan closed the door and began walking toward his bedroom.
So far, the mystery was just as perplexing as it had ever been, only now with a few new questions. Who exactly had he seen at the restaurant, and if Mr. Porter wasn’t an angel, how did he know to shake Evan’s left hand instead of his injured right?
“He didn’t,” came a familiar female voice from behind him. “He’s left-handed.”
Evan spun around with a startled yelp. He hadn’t heard the door reopen or close, but standing on the inside of the closed entryway was the last person he ever expected to see, even considering all he’d seen thus far.
“Audrey?”
“You know me as Audrey, yes.” If it were possible, she looked more beautiful than he’d ever seen her. Her white, full-length dress had an otherworldly glow to it, and she wore a smile that calmed both his fear and his nerves. Her presence was strangely comforting.
“Who are you?”
“Oh, come on, Evan,” she grinned. “You’ve already figured it out.”
“But I thought he…” he pointed toward the door. “I’m confused.”
“That’s because you’ve been rushing to conclusions instead of letting the answers be revealed to you in God’s time.”
“Is Audrey your real name?”
“My real name is unimportant. What is important is that I’m here to give you some of those answers you’ve been seeking.”
A surge of relief washing over Evan, followed by hesitation. Now that he was finally in the presence of the angel, he couldn’t think of what to ask. Then a hundred questions flooded his mind, and he didn’t know what to ask first. Finally, it came to him.
“What’s happening to me?”
“Evan, Evan,” said the angel as she took a step forward. “What ever gave you the idea that this was all about you?”
“Then wh—” he started to ask, almost instinctively, knowing the answer before he finished. “You’re Richard’s angel, aren’t you?”
“Oh, you’re so very close. I’m your angel, Evan. The man you saw on Saturday was Richard’s, who—on direct orders from The Almighty—allowed himself to be seen by you in the form of Mr. Edward Porter.
“The reason he floated from table to table was two-fold. First, there were other Christians in there who needed a little whisper, a nudge in the right direction. You might even call it a still, small voice. Second, if you hadn’t seen him, you would never have pursued him.”
“And if I hadn’t pursued him,” Evan concluded, “I would never have come to see what God has just shown me. That He has all the answers.”
“You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for.” Audrey stepped even closer. “You were so close to losing all hope, Evan, largely due to the fact that you stopped praying.” She pointed upward. “You gave up on God.”
Evan began to tear up. “But He never gave up on me, did He?”
“He will never leave you, nor forsake you.”
“I have been so foolish.” He started to weep again, when Audrey closed the gap and rested a hand on his shoulder. The tears dried up immediately.
“Now is the perfect time to begin anew,” the angel told him. “You’ve been given the rare gift of seeing God at work in a way few ever do, so that you might better appreciate the potential of what He can do for you, and thus be more able to place your complete trust in Him. Don’t waste it.”
“I won’t.” Sensing the visit was nearly over, he felt compelled to add, “How much of all this will I remember after today?”
Audrey smiled. “That’s up to you.”
They stood there a moment, then Evan said the only thing he had left to say. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” Audrey replied. “Thank God.” She stepped back and turned toward the door. Evan reached out and stopped her.
“Wait.”
“Yes?”
“About the pictures…”
“Evan,” she said, waving a finger at him. “Must you have an explanation for everything?”
“You’re right. I do have one more question, though, before you go.”
“Go ahead.”
“I thought you said this wasn’t about me.”
Audrey let out a mock sigh. “Again, so close. Actually, I said the wasn’t all about you. Richard’s dealings are of far more eternal importance, but as you know…”
“All things work together…”
“Exactly. It’s good you remembered that point, though. That shows you’re learning, and because you’re now back on the path the Master has set for you, I have one last gift to give before I leave. After today, we will never speak like this again.”
“Because I should be looking to God, not you.”
Audrey nodded, then approached and leaned into his right ear to whisper, “For tomorrow night’s service, come early—and stay late.” With that, she turned and walked to the front door. She smiled at him one last time, then opened the door and left, closing it behind her.
He didn’t bother to follow her outside. He knew she wouldn’t be there, and for the first time ever, it didn’t bother him in the slightest.