Life's Storms

I listened to a podcast interview of a wonderful Christian lady who had been through a great many hardships in life. From childhood traumas to difficult pregnancies and debilitating illnesses for much of her life, her faith was surely tested to its limit but not without purpose. 

Once she cried out to God for help in prayer and received in her heart an insight that “the storms reveal the lies we believe and the truths we need”. From here she asked what lies did she believe and it was revealed to her that although she was a solid, long standing believer, she believed that God would not or had not come through for her; that the devil could attack her anytime without hindrance. And Perhaps God did not love her much. How many of us have felt as she did? 

As the Holy Spirit ministered to her broken heart she received that ‘she had no idea just how many times He had come through for her, how many disasters, attacks or hardships He had prevented in her life or how much He had provided for her and how much He loved her’. Against a backdrop of so much suffering a further consolation was that “I will not let you lose, but I must let you fight.” 

Our lives are a process, a journey, and to fulfil our mission we must be trained, like soldiers training for battle: to suffer and endure, to be transformed into His likeness and to be a light to others. Her witness now as a bestselling author, public speaker and radio show host is a powerful testimony of the grace of God and her trust in Him reflects His faithfulness and the intimacy between them. 

“The storms that rise against us do not come to destroy, but to shape our course; let us not fear the winds, for they obey the voice of the Lord.” — St. Brendan the Navigator

Entertaining Angels

 

Shakespeare said that the ‘whole world is a stage’; if he had been from the Philippines he would have said that the ‘whole world is a washing line’! Our obsession here with good hygiene and a constant supply of clean clothes means that even someone sleeping on the sidewalk will have an improvised washing line near-by. So when someone shows up in a neighbourhood who does not fit this mould, dirty and dishevelled, (and a bit scary) they are given a wide berth. 

When we first moved here from the UK, some 17 years ago now, I saw a chap resting by the side of the road who was in that category. As the day wore on and I went about my business I saw that he remained there the whole day. We decided to put part of our dinner aside for him and packaged it up and I took it over to him. He had fallen asleep so I left it by his side. The next morning he was gone and I thought no more about it. 

When we left the UK; I left my car behind having been unable to sell it by the time we were due to leave and I left it with a local garage to sell it and give me part of the proceeds later; it was winter and a recession so it had not sold in the couple of months we had been waiting and praying for it. The next day I received an e-mail to say it as sold. We rejoiced as the money was needed to help us get established here and I felt that our rather small and insignificant almsgiving the evening before had taken our prayer over the line somehow. 

A few days ago, just before Christmas, I was on my way out of the house on another errand and felt that I ought to bring a few things with me; some fresh Pan de Sal I had picked up from the bakery, a cool drink and some biscuits. I followed the inspiration and on my way came across another ‘vagabond’; a chap I had seen in the neighbourhood for a few days, who was also stood by the roadside I offered him the food items I had brought and carried on. 

We were also praying for something at this time. My wife had a strange skin problem on her eyelids which neither a ophthalmologist or dermatologist had been able to identify or treat successfully. This had been going on for months and we had spent some time in prayer for this too. When I got home I saw her and she had visited the doctor’s office at her university and he had immediately identified the cause and given her medicine for it. The next day it was already noticeably better and now all but fully healed ! 

Now of course I cannot give a definitive proof here, but my experience suggests that sometimes prayer is not enough on its own and we need to add almsgiving. And don’t be afraid of the unwashed; they may be angels in disguise after all.