Love in the WINGS by Delia Latham

angel had taken his leave the night before, Corbin knew something was up with the pastor. The man had just lost a beloved family member, of course, but that wasn’t it. Something else weighed heavy on Pastor David’s heart, and he was struggling beneath the load.
    Corbin cringed, seeing again David’s mismatched shirt and trousers, hair that appeared untouched by a comb, and unshaven face. Pia must’ve slept through her husband’s departure this morning. Surely she wouldn’t have let him out the door looking like that.
    “While David lacks strength, we have to be strong for him.”
    Out of nowhere, Aria’s voice echoed in his memory. He groaned, remembering what else she’d said. “Someone’s going to have to stand in the gap and make up the hedge.”
    He also recalled his own over-assured response. “I’m ready if you are.”
    Would he ever learn to keep his mouth shut?
    “God, I don’t want to do this,” he whispered.
    If you love Me, keep My commandments.
    He sighed. “OK, God, but I feel like an idiot here. You didn’t say what message I was to give Pastor, just ‘take My words to him.’ What words? If I knew that, I’d feel better about going in there.”
    What God was asking hit him square in the middle of his pride. He couldn’t stand the thought of falling flat on his face because he wasn’t “prepared.”
    When he’d left home, all he had were the worn out clothes stuffed in his pillowcase, a fierce determination to get away from Kirby, and his pride. He’d clawed his way through one back-breaking job after another, working wherever he could get someone to hire him. Abandoned shacks and shanties had sheltered him…or cardboard boxes when no other place could be found.
    No one ever knew, because Corbin found ways to keep himself clean, a smile on his face, and something witty on his lips at all times. He soon drew the attention of people who mattered, and his hard work paid off in respect and, eventually, in promotions that allowed him to secure a modest apartment.
    At night, he studied. Over time, he obtained a GED, then applied for and received financial aid to further his education, which brought him far more than a degree. One of his college professors took a special interest in him, and reached out in the love of Christ. That instructor led Corbin to give his heart to God. Much later, after the two of them became friends outside a curricular setting, Corbin asked his friend why he had gone out of his way to help him , out of dozens of students who might have benefited from his attention.
    The professor said he’d first noticed Corbin because, in the midst of a college full of students who were there because their parents insisted and who often made zero effort to portray a professional persona, he stood out as a young man who cared about how he presented himself to the world.
    Corbin never told him that his insistence on having every hair in place was a crutch. That his determined scrabbling to be at the top of the class, even if it meant he got no more than two hours’ sleep at night, was his way of making sure the world never saw who he really was.
    Just a poor farm kid who still had nightmares about his father finding him and dragging him back home…back to the barn.
    Even after he followed his heart into the ministry, his sermons were well thought out and planned right down to the last amen, for the same reasons. And now…how could he walk into Pastor David’s office and come off looking halfway intelligent when God wouldn’t let him see more than a step ahead?
    Trust Me, my son.
    He huffed out a breath. “I do trust You, Lord. I do. But what am I supposed to say when I’m in his office? I can’t just stand there looking…lame.”
    Trust Me. When the time is right, open your mouth, and I will fill it.
    A stillness came over Corbin. Not quite peace, but…perhaps a touch of acceptance. Maybe this was God’s way of breaking his pride, teaching him to stop hiding behind a