For more than 4 weeks, I had been trodding the hospital corridors in these shoes along with Indian outfits and thus screaming, “She doesn’t belong to planet India”.I went to India with the verse – Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.
Little did I know that I was going to be walking through the fire – in these shoes.
Same way, when I came last year for my mom’s last days, God sent me with the Word Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Thanking God for speaking through His Word and then keeping it without fail. Even before I left to India, the verse Psalm 125:1 came to me twice
Psalm 125:1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. This was the verse in my mom’s gravestone. And by March 22(the day my dad went to be with the Lord), I got this verse 5 times. And yes, it is the same verse that was put in dad’s gravestone too. This has been quite a journey for me. And God has been faithful to His Word and He is bringing me out of this fire stronger than ever. He did not allow me to be scorched or burnt but refined me as gold to serve His Kingdom purpose.
I learnt several lessons in this journey. Standing in the gap for the souls matters preciously in God’s eyes. As it is, without having to do anything, hell fills up quickly in multitudes; Heaven, on the other hand, one soul at a time, is it not? Because the standards of heaven is too high. God got me to pray for my dad for this entire past year. Little did I know the urgency of time back then. I wouldn’t let go of my dad without making sure that he is headed to heaven. As he was in coma, I did everything possible from my side, as guided by God on what to pray, what Word to read to him, what to say in his ears to get our relationship restored from bitterness and regrets etc. I am not even exaggerating when I say that I literally was knocking on heaven’s doors for my dad. God has been so faithful. I truly believe that because God had grace for both my parents, He prepared me beforehand to lead them through those doors.
Another lesson I learnt is the joy of finding the lost coin, the lost sheep and the lost son. As I have read these parables for years and I never understood what that joy felt like. I never could put myself in their shoes of “lost and found”. But in the end of this journey, I very well understood that joy. Because, during the first 10 days I was in India, I got just 2 hours of sleep. I would fall asleep at 9 out of exhaustion only to wake up at 11, every night. After that, it was just tossing and turning and praying for my dad, as I didn’t know if he got everything right with God and he was in coma, so I had no way of knowing. And I wouldn’t let him go without making sure and helping him in every way from my side. I truly felt what the birthing pain would be like, for the sake of a soul. I had asked God for an evidence to know if my dad made it to heaven. And God gave him a peace-filled face on the entire day of the funeral and filled my heart with peace that comes only from Him. That night also I couldn’t sleep, not because of desperation, but because of overflowing peace.
Third lesson that I learnt is for us to point people to the saving and redeeming grace of Jesus. The Son of God made the biggest sacrifice of all – laid down His life on the cursed cross for the sake of redeeming us. If we truly say that we care about the people in our life, we should point them to Jesus and thus to heaven. The mystery of life is that we don’t have a way of knowing how much of our life is left. And this life is what decides about where we will spend eternity. As we see lives ending in front of our eyes in an instant, let us wisen up and make use of the time in hand and live a life pleasing to God so that there be no regrets when we take our last breaths.
