Lost Pennies

I was in a prayer meeting recently when I had this awesome revelation. Many people fall away from the organizations that they have been a part of for many years for many different reasons. It could be social, or economic reasons, whatever the reason, it happens. I found myself in this same place.
I have been going through some physical and emotional things recently and maybe you can relate to them. You can put up a strong face for a long time. In my case it was for several months. There was a time when I was making a generous salary. More than generous. I was living a lifestyle that many would say is lavious. I'm not saying that I was eating caviar or steak tartar every weekend but I was flying and buying with no care in the world that this lifestyle would ever end, at least not soon.
Then the walls came crushing in all around me. It all happened so suddenly that I couldn't appreciate the gravity of it all until many months later. I had been hit by a trifecta of money, body and children. The dreaded three things that can drive a man over the edge.
Without going into too much detail, my finances went from hero to zero in a matter of a few months. Physically, I was a mess. I had to have minor shoulder surgery which would drain the life out of me because I'm used to being physical and strong. Then it was the anguish of having a child that became the proverbial prodigal child. This went on for months and months.
Little by little the finances became more and more of a struggle. I owned property and a retirement but was unable to get at either one of those. I said to myself,"Well I must be the richest poor guy in the neighborhood." Haha. I was just fooling myself. Iwas living on borrowed time and I knew it better than anyone else that it was just a matter of time until the bottom dropped out of this puppy.
Little did I know but I was staying home more often. I wasn't making the phone calls or going to the meetings as often. I even stopped going in to the office. I started working more and more out of my Home office. I rationalized that I was saving money and since my bank account was as thin as Twiggy back in the 60's, it made sense. But the walls of depression were closing in all around me. I just couldn't get out of the funk.
Then one day I woke up and listened to that still small voice that said to get up out of bed and go to the prayer meeting that I hadn't been to in several weeks. I immediately got up and put on my jeans and raced out of the house. I saw the sun rising and the cars bussling to and fro. It was an amazing feeling. I felt alive again. Just by going out of the house I felt alive again.
Here's the revelatory part. As I stood in the meeting, only one person said to me that they had noticed I hadn't been there. He said that he had been praying for me and that I just showed up and made his day. This was the revelation. Many people don't listen to that still small voice that says, "Get back into the game". They continue to wallow outside and many never make it back. I am the lucky one. I teach this stuff all the time and still have reserves of faith and hope that reside inside of me just waiting for moments like these. Many people aren't as fortunate. For those, who will call them? Who will be the one to help them back? I can tell you, it wasn't easy for me to get up out of that bed but I did. By God's grace I did. And the most crushing thing about this whole thing, no one else even missed me. They acted as though I had been there all the time.