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The Chair by the Window: Seven Lessons From an Old Saint Who Could No Longer Go—but Never Stopped Serving Key Passage: “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.” — Psalm 92:14–15 Introduction There is a chair by the window in nearly every nursing home. Sometimes it sits near the front entrance, where a resident can watch visitors arrive, employees change shifts, delivery trucks stop, and families hurry through the doors. Sometimes it is beside a bedroom window overlooking a parking lot, a sidewalk, a tree, or a patch of sky. To somebody rushing through life, it may look like nothing more than an old person sitting still. But that chair may hold a World War II veteran, a mother who raised six children, a preacher who buried half his congregation, a Sunday school teacher who taught three generations, or a saint who spent more hours in prayer than most Christians have spent inside a church building. The world sees a frail body beside a window. God may see a watchman at his post. I learned that lesson from an elderly gentleman named Brother Ray. When he was younger, he had been a pillar in the church. He served on the pastor’s council, taught Sunday school, went soul winning, knocked on doors, brought people to Christ, and became the sort of man others sought when they needed wisdom. He was also a World War II veteran. He had known discipline, sacrifice, service, hardship, and responsibility long before a younger generation began treating those words like exhibits in a museum. By the time I knew him, however, age and declining health had reduced what he could physically do. The legs that once carried him from door to door did not carry him as far. The voice that once taught classes did not reach as many people. The soldier who had traveled and labored was spending more of his days in a chair by the window. Yet Brother Ray had not quit. He had not surrendered his usefulness, retired from the Christian life, or decided that his remaining days were merely an inconvenient hallway leading to Heaven. He waved to the mailman. He waved to the neighbors. He watched the world pass beyond his window, but he did not merely watch it—he prayed for it. One day he showed me a large stack of index cards filled with names, needs, notes, and recorded answers to prayer. My own name was among them. I was young in the Lord and serving as a youth leader, but that old soldier had placed me on his prayer list. The lesson has remained with me ever since: when God allows a believer’s field of travel to become smaller, He does not necessarily make his field of influence smaller. Sometimes the most important ministry in a church is being conducted from a chair by the window. 1. The Window Can Become a Watchtower When I served as a nursing-home chaplain, I often saw residents gathered near the entrance or seated beside windows. They watched everyone who came and went because their world had become physically smaller. Some people looked at them as though they were merely passing time, but I learned not to assume that stillness meant emptiness. Behind those eyes were memories, burdens, names, questions, and decades of life that younger visitors could not see. A person may lose the ability to drive across town without losing the ability to observe. He may no longer walk through the neighborhood, but he can still notice the ambulance at a neighbor’s house, the sadness on a caregiver’s face, the family that has stopped visiting, or the young worker who needs an encouraging word.

TNTJohn1717's tweet photo. The Chair by the Window: Seven Lessons From an Old Saint Who Could No Longer Go—but Never Stopped Serving

Key Passage: “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.” — Psalm 92:14–15

Introduction

There is a chair by the window in nearly every nursing home. Sometimes it sits near the front entrance, where a resident can watch visitors arrive, employees change shifts, delivery trucks stop, and families hurry through the doors. Sometimes it is beside a bedroom window overlooking a parking lot, a sidewalk, a tree, or a patch of sky. To somebody rushing through life, it may look like nothing more than an old person sitting still. But that chair may hold a World War II veteran, a mother who raised six children, a preacher who buried half his congregation, a Sunday school teacher who taught three generations, or a saint who spent more hours in prayer than most Christians have spent inside a church building. The world sees a frail body beside a window. God may see a watchman at his post.

I learned that lesson from an elderly gentleman named Brother Ray. When he was younger, he had been a pillar in the church. He served on the pastor’s council, taught Sunday school, went soul winning, knocked on doors, brought people to Christ, and became the sort of man others sought when they needed wisdom. He was also a World War II veteran. He had known discipline, sacrifice, service, hardship, and responsibility long before a younger generation began treating those words like exhibits in a museum. By the time I knew him, however, age and declining health had reduced what he could physically do. The legs that once carried him from door to door did not carry him as far. The voice that once taught classes did not reach as many people. The soldier who had traveled and labored was spending more of his days in a chair by the window.

Yet Brother Ray had not quit. He had not surrendered his usefulness, retired from the Christian life, or decided that his remaining days were merely an inconvenient hallway leading to Heaven. He waved to the mailman. He waved to the neighbors. He watched the world pass beyond his window, but he did not merely watch it—he prayed for it. One day he showed me a large stack of index cards filled with names, needs, notes, and recorded answers to prayer. My own name was among them. I was young in the Lord and serving as a youth leader, but that old soldier had placed me on his prayer list. The lesson has remained with me ever since: when God allows a believer’s field of travel to become smaller, He does not necessarily make his field of influence smaller. Sometimes the most important ministry in a church is being conducted from a chair by the window.

1. The Window Can Become a Watchtower

When I served as a nursing-home chaplain, I often saw residents gathered near the entrance or seated beside windows. They watched everyone who came and went because their world had become physically smaller. Some people looked at them as though they were merely passing time, but I learned not to assume that stillness meant emptiness. Behind those eyes were memories, burdens, names, questions, and decades of life that younger visitors could not see. A person may lose the ability to drive across town without losing the ability to observe. He may no longer walk through the neighborhood, but he can still notice the ambulance at a neighbor’s house, the sadness on a caregiver’s face, the family that has stopped visiting, or the young worker who needs an encouraging word.

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FloridaMom1202

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3 months ago

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4 months ago

@AngelMD1103 Hey there, Dr. CZ. We live in Florida. I’m still Mamma Dawn or Ms. Dawn to the friends of my adult children.

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4 months ago

I like it, I like it! ♥️

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@heidimontag Amen!! Praying God’s will be done.

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about 1 year ago

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Saying the quiet part out loud.

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about 1 year ago

🚨 BREAKING - ERIKA KIRK UNLEASHES, DEFIANT: "They should all know this. If you THOUGHT that my husband's mission was powerful before? You have NO IDEA. You have no idea what you've just unleashed across this entire country, and this world. You have no idea the fire you've ignited within this wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry." "The evildoers responsible for my husband's assassination have no IDEA what they have done. They killed Charlie because he preached a message of patriotism, faith, and of God's merciful love." "The movement will NOT DIE. I refuse to let that happen." "All of us will refuse to let that happen. No one will ever forget my husband's name, and I will make sure of it. It will become stronger, bolder, louder, and greater than ever."