‘And yet, I will praise Him’

From friends getting bad reports — really bad reports — to something as silly as broken air conditioners, the day was snowballing into a downhill kind of day. I’m a fixer and I couldn’t fix any of the stuff. My attitude broke too, y’all. That is, until life took a turn. As the Lord would have it, I ran across a journal entry I’d written years ago. It was back when I worked at WAOY radio station.

It was a recounting of a gentle guy who would become a regular listener to my program. He was a man who had come to live out the scriptures. “It was good for me to be afflicted … so that I might learn your decrees. Your hand made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn Your commands. May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in Your word. May Your unfailing love be my comfort.”

I was one who rejoiced. The love Les had for the Lord was shown with a passionate abandon and an intensity that flickered in his eyes. He communicated by feverishly moving a pen across paper. He would wave his hands, point heavenward and praise his God between periods and exclamation marks. How intimately Les knew his Savior.

Les was a broken man in the sense that his body was suffering. He didn’t cast Christ away when he had throat cancer. His voice box was removed and he had a forever tracheostomy. I was amazed at how God spoke from the depths of this man who was speechless. Les’ thankfulness and encouraging kindness is etched in my heart forever.

After one on-air show, Les came to the station bearing a gift. He’d heard my back ached from sitting on a tall, backless stool. He had refurbished a stool with a padded back and painted it bright pink. Everyone who came to the station wanted to sit at the mic that had the great chair. Incredible. It was also a reminder that my complaint was so small and yet his response so big when it should have been the other way around.

The last time I saw Les was on a Fourth of July. A smiling Les and I had our picture made together and afterward he would write one of his precious notes. He quickly scrawled, “They tell me I’ve got three weeks to live, but I feel great and I praise God for today.” He would go home to Jesus soon after, and I can hear him rejoicing all the more.

So, I know today amid a bunch of broken things, God sent a reminder of a broken man who did not let life break his spirit or his joy. Les didn’t have much, didn’t have health, didn’t have a voice, but he is still speaking volumes to me almost a decade later. He couldn’t utter a sound, but his whole being spoke of a Savior who gave him life and life abundantly.

That’ll preach. I’m singing a new song. Les showed me the truth found in another song, “ And yet, I will praise Him.” So I’m stopping in the name of love — love of the Father, who is the hope of the broken and the sustainer of all. Stop and give thanks, y’all.

This story was originally published May 20, 2017 at 3:14 PM with the headline "‘And yet, I will praise Him’."