2 Kings 3:17 For thus says the LORD:’You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’ 18. And this is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.
For the valley to be filled with water, first they had to make that valley full of ditches. Verse 16 says “Thus says the LORD:’Make this valley full of ditches. “
King Jehoram of Israel took King Jehoshaphat of Judah and the King of Edom in a war against the King of Moab. They went by the way of the Wilderness of Edom. They marched on that route for seven days; and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. Prophet Elisha was consulted to ask of the LORD for a solution. Elisha asked to bring a musician. As the musician played, the hand of the LORD came upon him. Referring back to the verses 17 and 18, after seven days of wandering without water, as they came to a point of seeking God versus dying in thirst, God gives the solution and even guarantees them victory in war which they did not ask because at that point living itself was at stake. Next morning, when the grain offering was offered, that suddenly water came by way of Edom, and the land was filled with water. Just as the LORD said, it was as simple as that.
The Moabites rose up early in the morning, and the sun was shining on the water; and the Moabites saw the water as red as blood. Moabites thought the blood was because the Israelite armies killed each other and hurried to gather Israelites’ plunder. When the Moabites came to the camp of Israel, Israel rose up and attacked the Moabites, so that they fled before them.
Ditches had to be dug before God could provide water. If there were no ditches, there would be no room to hold the water. If we look at the Old Testament great people, most of them were the outcome of tremendous shortcoming or lack undergone by someone. Samuel was born because of the emptiness experienced by Hannah. Isaac became a reward for Abraham after a really long wait. Jacob became Israel in his broken lonely desperate fearful moment. The greatest prophet of New Testament, John the Baptist, was born at the old age of Zechariah and Elizabeth who lived a righteous life before the LORD. When we undergo tremendous shortcoming in any area of our life, we are worried and we fret. We think low and inadequate of ourselves. We undergo shortcoming not always because God is disciplining us. If it is because of God’s disciplining, once we learn the lesson, He is our good father who rewards us. Even after righteous living, if we still undergo tremendous lack or shortcoming, that is for God to bring about some amazing blessing out of that. The above characters of the Bible are examples for that.
We just continue to do our part in serving God in all righteousness and God will definitely do His part in His time according to His will and plan. We might not always see the signs of it. Neither wind nor rain brought the water. Israelites did their part by giving the grain offering and the water gushed into those valleys which quenched the thirst of the three armies and their animals and also caused confusion on their enemies and with no war done, the enemies were defeated. The same water that quenched the thirst of God’s children destroyed His enemies by causing confusion among themselves. It all depends on “Are we on God’s side or His enemies side? Do we want to be taken care by God or destroyed by God? Choice is ours. There are only two sides- God’s side or the opposite side. There is no neutral ground”. Abundance is preceded by lack in order for us to see God’s hands in it. So let us not despise the lack. Let us praise God in advance for the abundant blessing that follows the lack. Amen!
Today is our 18th marriage anniversary. Life isn’t easy. Marriage isn’t easy. Parenting isn’t easy. Christian walk isn’t easy. It started at the garden of Eden itself. Till we are in this side of eternity, everything is hard because of our rebellion and disobedience before God.But by the saving grace of God alone, we continue to run the race, without giving up. We fall. We break down. We get bruised and wounded. We bear the scars. But Jesus is right beside us, walking with us, running with us, cheering us on, picking us up when we fall, and promising to see us through till the finish line.
I used to mark and make all occasions like birthdays, anniversary etc in our family special. As time went by, not seeing much meaning in all these rituals, like baking a cake, cooking special food, buying gifts hoping to surprise etc., this year, I did none of the above. Because I feel, more than any of these activities, walking according to God’s heart and not on my own fleshly will is more important.
I feel, marriage starts off in a nice biking trail which is flat and plain, and we whistle and hum along as we ride. As time goes by, the trail turns into valleys and mountain tops, and we have to catch and juggle lots of baggages thrown at us. Down the line, as we keep going, it seems like we end up biking uphill huffing and puffing, towards each milestone. It is not just the spiritual walk that displays the invisible warfares for which we are asked to put on the armor of God everyday. Spiritual warfare attacks all areas of our life. Marriage is what God instituted as the first thing after He created everything else. So it is extremely important in His eyes. No wonder, the devil attacks Christian marriages all the time, especially when we mindfully strive to walk with the LORD.
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. If my spiritual walk was all about me reading the Word, Praying and walking with the LORD, it probably would not be as hard. But it involves all aspects of my life – marriage, parenting, workplace, my relationship with others etc. I am to bear the fruit of the Spirit in all these areas without taking a break. That would mean that I am supposed to be on a vigilant watch 24/7 for the schemes and attacks of the enemy of my soul. In my case, I have come to realize, the devil places hurts right before such occasions in my heart and gets my spirit downcast, which leads to self-pity, and my withdrawal from others, and moping in my hurt.
When I am hurt, in my flesh, I love to make others miserable as well. I would tend to withdraw from family, refuse to take part in any happiness and would recite in my heart about how I am going to act. But these days, by God’s grace and His Holy Spirit at work in my heart, I am a lot mindful about what Jesus would want me to do. If I do in my will, I know perfectly well what I would want to do. But, these days, I get reminded to ask,”LORD, this is how I feel. I am hurt in these areas. This is how I want to act on this occasion and make their lives miserable. But what do You want me to do? Because, what You want is more important to me than satisfying my petty grudges”.
As I started praying today morning, I started off with my venting out my hurts to God. The devil’s tactic is to make me feel unworthy of any good things, by whispering in my ear to not to accept any kindness shown towards me, and to withdraw from the family emotionally, thereby making them miserable too. A little into venting out in prayer, I realized that and said, “LORD, I give this day in Your hands. I know this much that if I hold this day in my hand, I will perfectly well ruin it. Would You show me what You can do with this day for me?”.
Prayers are mighty weapons, my friends! And prayerful friends are mighty warriors! My prayer friend texted me and asked if she can pray for me. I gladly said yes. As she was praying, I realized, if I keep the petty complaints aside, there is always so much to be grateful for. We look around us and see the many different and very difficult circumstances that so many people are going through. Compared to those, our little hurts are put into perspective. The devil wants to keep us in a complaining and a whining mode. However, may God help us to continually remember to thank and worship and praise Him instead.
My husband loves to buy gifts for me for special occasions. But I would feel so unworthy to accept the gift. Because I had asked God to help me to do the right thing according to His heart, as my husband mentioned about going out for lunch and to go pick a gift, I nodded quietly without opposing him. I put aside my fleshly will and yielded to choose peace. Similarly, Christ’s gift of salvation is offered to us freely, as Christ is always willing to redeem and forgive those who come to Him humbly and earnestly. The devil instead whispers in our ears, reminding us of all our shortcomings to make us feel unworthy. But Jesus has paid the price on the cross in an unimaginably painful way. So let us not give ear to the devil’s lies but with a grateful heart accept the free gift Jesus offers us with arms wide open.
Prayers are mighty weapons. Just as I asked God to take the day and show me what He can do with it for me, He did! He gave me a good anniversary day! I got to experience an instant reward from God. My husband and I picked up a nice gift for both of us which was for almost regular price with no discounts. But the shop attendant said that they can match the price with Amazon for 15 days. When we checked Amazon while being at the shop, there was no price reduction in Amazon. So we thought we will keep an eye for the next 15 days. We got home after half hour and we checked Amazon again, and to our great surprise, there was a price reduction for the same item, so together we saved a pretty big amount. To me, that was a reward that came from God.
Yes, the daily struggles would still continue. We would still fall, bear bruises and wounds and carry the scars. Love God and love others as yourself are the two greatest commandments. Loving God is even easier because He is always good and perfect. But loving people is not always easy because we are all imperfect and I am one who would love “my way or the highway”. We deal with imperfect people as imperfect people. But Jesus will still continue to be right beside us, walking with us, cheering for us, without forsaking us, and seeing us through till we reach and cross the finish line!! All glory be to Him alone! Amen
Life is short and eternity is long. Believe it or not, that is the truth. Living through a Pandemic, we do see so many dying – our loved ones and hundreds of thousands of whom we hear just as numbers. We ought to know where we will spend eternity. Reason – Because eternity is incredibly long!
Considering that we work our tails off to have a little better comfortable life in this miserable world, how much more of a priority should the preparation for eternal life be, right?! Yet, most people don’t know or care about eternal life. When we go on a vacation trip, how much planning do we do for our travel, accommodation and plans of places to see and what not. Should we not at least care to know about what will happen once our breath stops in this life? First step is to know and understand that there is such thing as eternity which can be either heaven which is perfect in joy with no pain and sufferings and tears and sickness or hell which is never-ending painful misery which never ends. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Mathew 7:14
A rich young ruler – this man was rich, young and had authority- came to Jesus, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”. So Jesus said to him, “You know the commandments; Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother’. He claimed that he followed all of this from his childhood. Yet Jesus pointed out one thing to him. Jesus told him to sell whatever he had and give it to the poor and then he will have treasure in heaven and then to take up the cross and follow Him. The rich young ruler was sad at this word and went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. What we learn from this is that even when we have the desire to make it to the Kingdom of God, it is not easy. It requires for us to bring everything to the table and not hold on to anything. After this, when the disciples asked Jesus, “Who then can be saved?”, Jesus said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible”.
Mathew 25:31 When Jesus comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, He will say to those on His right hand, “Come, you blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me”.
A journey starts with a mile. And this is the first mile in the journey to heaven – to get rid of selfish and self-centered living and help the needy. Rather than increasing the comfort of our living everyday, we can and should extend a helping hand to the homeless, the orphans, the widows, the ones struggling to make the ends meet, the ones in poor countries.. there are countless opportunities to help out only if we would open our eyes and see Jesus in the ones who are in need.
Mathew 25:41 Then shall the King answer them, “Truly I say to you, in as much as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me”.
In 2017, I said a small prayer asking God to give me the talent and teach me as I wanted to try watercolor arts to write Bible verses on them. I had not tried watercolor before, but in my mind, I thought watercolor would be more forgiving, as I can wash away the flaws with water. God started to bless these arts, right from the beginning, though I am not trained in art.
From then on, I had been doing so many arts, in various forms – wall art, greeting cards, bookmarks – all with Bible verses. I had given so many bookmarks to friends in church, prayer groups etc. I delighted in giving it to others because I was giving them the Word of God.
2021 has been a rough year for me and lot of my prayers were my tears. As life got rough, I wanted to focus more on God’s work. One day I went to church a little early so that I could pray. I cried my eyes out to the Lord. As I opened my eyes, a lady came up the stairs and she saw me and my tears. She came towards me, sat beside me and asked me what happened. Then she prayed for me. This was such an unexpected happening and I felt so overwhelmed that God sent someone to let me know that He saw my tears.
The following week, I saw her at Tuesday prayer and she remembered me. I told her that it was God who sent her to pray for me. That Sunday she came over and gave me a greeting card with a very thoughtful note saying that she is praying for me. I felt incredibly touched.
I was going to do an offering song in Indian church that Sunday, though to me, offering song means stepping out of the boat in faith. The song I was going to sing was ‘How deep the Father’s love for us!’. I do not prefer to do an offering song without saying a few words about it.I didn’t know what to say about the song as the Father’s love and Christ’s crucifixion is so profound as it is. God gave me a great insight on that Saturday about the greatest lesson that Christ taught us from the Cross is forgiveness and that I should also forgive and get rid of all bitterness from my heart.
I learnt that forgiveness is a constant process and not a one time thing that we do. We need to constantly analyze our heart to check if there is any unforgiveness is found. And as David prayed, we ought to ask everyday to give us a clean heart and renew the right spirit within us. Joseph being human like us and a great role model for forgiveness, did not go through this test for the first seventeen years of his life. But the next 13 years tested him in the area of forgiveness. Psalm 105:17-20 He(The LORD) sent a man before them-Joseph-who was sold as a slave. 18. They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons. 19. Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him. 20. The king sent and released him, the ruler of the people let him go free.
For the past couple months, I had a deep desire to use this art skill to support mission works as led by the LORD. But no matter how hard I tried to sell these artworks, I could not sell any of these and I could clearly see that the LORD had closed that door. As days went by, I felt disappointed that God is not opening a door for a Kingdom purpose that I was asking Him. That is when God taught me to get rid of the unforgiveness and bitterness. On the same day of my offering song, I repented of my unforgiveness. That Sunday, I took 2 bookmarks for her. I have no words to express her reaction and the first thing she asked was “Can I hire you to make these for me?”. Though I didn’t know what it meant, I said yes.
By God’s grace, I made 2 bookmarks again and gave them to her on Tuesday. I have given so many bookmarks to people simply as a way of giving God’s Word to them. She took me by surprise when she handed me a $20 bill. I refused right away saying I cannot take it. But she said, “Take it and use it for what you wanted to do.” I had mentioned to her that I wanted to support missions with this skill. She also added saying someone gave it to her and asked her to give it away and so she gave it to me. Because of those words, and also because I suddenly felt reminded about my prayer, I received that $20 with joy, knowing that God has finally opened the door for me. And this happened right after He taught me about forgiveness and my repentance. The lesson I learnt is that even if we pray a Kingdom purpose prayer, God can answer it only if we pray with a clean heart free of any unwanted heavy things. I have never before felt this happy to see a $20 bill in my life.
I strongly believe that God has opened the door for a greater purpose in my life. I am looking forward to be able to support so many mission works as led by the LORD.
Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Shoes! Women’s weakness. I see, men’s too! We all get drawn towards other shoes, don’t we? We feel tempted to buy the shoes that others wear.
And in life, we all come with our own situations, circumstances, challenges, mountain tops, mostly valleys and what not. And we all walk in our own shoes, often wanting to be in others shoes, assuming that they have better shoes and better paths in life. When asked “How are you doing?”, most of the times, don’t we all just lie with a smile. Regardless of how we really are doing, we reply with the best smile “I am doing good. How about you?”. Outwardly when we see others, we think others cruise in their lives while we paddle hard and we want to be in their shoes rather than ours, as ours seem painful and blistery.
Would you want to be in my shoes? Disregard my smile as I talk. Disregard the almost perfect pictures that I post in social media. If you get to know my walks of life, the valleys that I am mostly on, and rarely a mountain top, would anyone want to be in my shoes? ?
I guess that is the case with most peoples’ walk, we just don’t see from the outside. All we see is perfect smiles and “I am good. Thank you”.
No matter how painful the valleys are and how many blisters we get in these shoes that we are in, I am thankful to God and God alone, for never forsaking me in any of the valleys, for drawing me closer to Him in each valley and never letting go of my hand. I have learnt that valleys are places where no one in this world can accompany us, except God. And He is more than enough. His Grace is sufficient.
Yet there is one place where I can remove my shoes and I can break my heart and pour out my tears – on my knees in Prayer. When I pour my heart out, God is so faithful that He answers. I have felt incredibly awed by ways that He lets me know that He sees me. He lets me know that He sees my tears – my EL ROI- the God who sees me. The One who saw Hagar’s tears in the desert – He sees my tears too. The One who saw Hannah’s tears at the altar – He sees my tears too. And I am amazed by how He sends me a message that He sees and my tears are not wasted.
One Sunday, when I was going through too much, I went a little early to church, just so I could pray. I sat at an end seat as usual and I just cried as I prayed. Tears rolling down my eyes, as I opened my eyes, a miracle happened. An elderly white lady was coming up the stairs just then. I am amazed by the timing. She saw me and my tears. In this country, where people are more interested in giving “space” , this lady looked at me and my tears. She, to my surprise, came over and sat down near me on the stairs next to me. And she asked how I was doing. I said my problem in 3 sentences. She gave me a tight hug and started praying, still hugging me tight as she prayed. My cries started to quiet down and I felt God’s peace. To me, it is God’s way of letting me know that He sent me comfort. I serve a God who is just too good, too sweeter than honey. So, taste and see that the LORD is good.
Psalm 56:8 You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?
Psalm 139:13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.
15. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.
Psalm 23:4. Though I walk through the valley of shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
I am thankful for the shoes God has put me in.
Psalm 18:33 He makes my feet like the feet of the deer, and sets me on my high places.
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his servants and gave 5 talents to one, 2 to another and 1 to another, to each according to his own ability; Then he who had received the 5 talents went and traded with them, and made another 5 talents. Likewise, he who had received 2 talents gained 2 also. But he who had received 1 talent went and dug in the ground and hid his lord’s money.
The ones who got 5 and 2 talents came and proudly shared their accomplishment of multiplying it to the lord. Their lord appreciated them and said, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord”.
Then the one who had received one talent came and said, “Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours”.But his lord answered to him, “You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.”
God has blessed me with so many creative skills. I work in Corporate for a living. I also love to do various stuff in my free time. My days would seem incomplete if not for these hobbies. I love to do watercolor arts with verses on greeting cards, bookmarks, wall arts. I also make jewelries. Recently I even tried some jewelries with resin. I make crochet caps and scarfs too.
I have a big and desperate desire to make use of these skills for God’s purpose. I have this deep desire to support some missionary work which proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ to people who do not know Him. Everyday I pray earnestly for God to give me a greater purpose to be useful for His Kingdom. I have spent so much of my life running after worldly things and accomplishments which are meaningless. I want to spend the rest of my life doing a greater purpose so that I can store up my treasures in heaven. Mathew 6:20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good woman are ordered by the LORD and He delights in her way.
I have listed my handmade items in the Bonanza site. My desire is to send the profits of these sales to a sincerely done missionary work. As of now, I am very much touched by the missionary work by GEMS(Gospel Echoing Missionary Society (https://www.gemsbihar.org/index.php) in Bihar, India. Please visit my listed items in the below link. https://www.bonanza.com/booths/GracefulPainted
Kindly share your thoughts on the comment section.
May God bless you abundantly and may each of us be used mightily for His Kingdom purpose! To Him be all glory, power and honor! Amen!.
Cookie is our puppy who came into our family as a birthday gift for my son. Cookie was a miraculous provision by God. We did know that a puppy came with a lot of responsibilities. However, the responsibility of taking care of a puppy seemed easier when compared to the suffocation I felt during the Pandemic quarantine. Cookie is a very furry breed and whenever he comes back from grooming, once in a couple of months, he comes back with all the fur shaved off. It was very hard to see him with no fur and I could also sense that he felt stressed with the visit to the groomer and the loss of fur each time. I consequently kept postponing his next visit to the groomer. His grooming needs were hence, past overdue, and although we tried to keep up with brushing his fur and trimming it at home, we eventually found out that in addition to a few lighter matted spots, he had 2 huge bunches of matted hair behind his ears. I quickly read up on how to get rid of these without having to take him to the groomer. I spent a few hours, using the detangling spray and comb and scissors and was able to remove about 60% of the matted hair on both sides. As I got closer to the skin, it seemed extremely difficult and Cookie started to get very restless and I realized that I had no choice but to take him to the groomer again. However, through this, I learnt a valuable spiritual lesson, if I may put it that way. As I started working on removing the matted hair, I felt how difficultly tangled the hair was. And I realized, is this not how Sin is? It starts off with one small sin, like a small tangle, a small knot, which pulls in a bit more and then a bit more and in no time, before we realize, it becomes a big bunch of matted mess. We cannot untangle ourselves from this mess. Unless someone is kind enough to painstakingly spend time to go through the patient process of detangling which is painful for both parties, there is no escape from it. No magical redemption from it. Sin has such a downward spiral effect. In the garden of Eden where everything was perfect and God saw that everything was good, sin entered through disobedience. Because sin enters in a subtle way and then does not stay subtle, it’s next stop from disobedience, was murder of Cain’s brother Abel. From disobedience to murder was a steep drop as in a rollercoaster ride. And today, here we are living in a completely evil world, wicked at its core. Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Romans 5:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen! 1 John 1:8,9 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
May we confess, may we repent, and may we pray to our Christ Jesus to cleanse us from all unrighteousness! Amen.
Cookie – after getting all the matted hair removed.
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1 Samuel 17:47 And everyone assembled here will know that the LORD rescues His people, but not with sword and spear. This is the LORD’s battle, and He will give you to us!”
The Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them.
Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, was over nine feet tall! He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds. He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds. His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield.
Goliath stood and shouted a taunt at the Israelites, for forty days, every morning and evening. “I am the Philistine champion. Choose one man to come down here and fight me! If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves!”.As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright.
David took Goliath’s challenge and insisted that he will fight Goliath. Saul tries to match David’s armor with Goliath’s, by giving his own armor – a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, as he was just a simple shepherd boy. So David takes the armor off, picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight Goliath.
Stirs our thoughts, doesn’t it? Goliath, a nine feet man, trained for war from his youth, comes with heavy armor. His armor itself weighed more than 150 pounds, all this while his challenge was to fight against one man from the Israelite army. Probably because the whole world knew of the God of the Israelites, who demonstrated His Mighty hand to the Egyptians and many other enemies. While David, a young shepherd boy, refused to wear such armor, and goes with just 5 stones, a sling and his shepherd’s staff.
Goliath cursed David by the names of his gods. David replied to him, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies-the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the LORD will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. “
Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground. Ideally, would he not fall backwards? But when it is the LORD who fights the battle, the enemy has no choice but to fall face down in front of the Almighty God, the LORD of hosts.
David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword and used it to kill him and cut his head off.
The battle of His children belongs to the LORD. Amen! And He never, ever lost one and never ever will!
When the LORD puts people on hold, it is for a greater purpose. Peninnah had children, while Hannah had no children. While Peninnah cruised through life, Hannah was stuck in a spot. Adding to the misery, Peninnah provoked Hannah severely, to make her miserable, because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb. So it was, year by year, when Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, that Peninnah provoked her, therefore Hannah wept and did not eat.
Years went by and Hannah was still left to wait. Intense words express Hannah’s emotional state – bitterness of soul, anguished in weeping, a sorrowful spirit, complaint and much grief. Hannah was at the end of her rope. She made a vow before the LORD and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life; and no razor shall come upon his head”. 1 Samuel 1:11
God molds His children to fulfil His purpose for them especially in their time of waiting. No wait time goes to waste for His children. When the appointed wait time comes to pass, Hannah gets to the point where she is willing to make the vow to the LORD that she will give the child back to Him. She makes the demand for a male child, even though this child is not hers to keep anymore.
With Hannah’s vow, her wait time before the LORD, who had closed her womb also came to an end. Isn’t it amazing? When we fret and moan thinking that we are the ones who are waiting for God, isn’t God also waiting for us, along with us, waiting for us to in align to His heart, so that He can accomplish His higher purpose in us and through us.
1 Samuel 1:20 So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him from the LORD”.
Peninnah had children, but none significant enough for their names to be mentioned. But Hannah’s loan to the LORD Samuel surpassed Eli in hearing from God at a very young age.
1 Samuel 2:20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The LORD give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the LORD”.
21. And the LORD visited Hannah(same as Sarah – Genesis 21:1) so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters.
Isaiah 49:23 For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.
Jesus shows grace to the woman who was caught in the very act of adultery. The scribes and pharisees were more interested in testing and trapping Jesus, at the cost of this woman. Yes, the woman did commit sin, for which the judgement according to the Law of Moses was stoning to death. Jesus, however, showed grace to the woman. Jesus brought conviction to those wanting to stone her in judgement. At least one stone could have been thrown at her by the only one who was without sin – Jesus. But Jesus did not punish her. Jesus showed her grace instead. Grace accomplishes what punishment cannot.
My mother and I are witnesses of such amazing grace. My mother went to be with the Lord on February 2nd, 2021. She was diagnosed with terminal illness. On December 23rd, she was admitted in the hospital. The doctor had given her only 3 days to live. I was not informed of how critical her condition really was, but was asked to visit her immediately. Even though I am the only child to my parents, I did not have a good relationship with my parents. Our family had a history of broken mother-daughter relationships. God gave me the verse Joshua 1:9 three times.”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.” I started my travel arrangements. With much hesitation and fear, I asked , “Lord, what do I do? what do I do? “. Just then, the worship leader started singing a song that I remembered as a song sung at funerals. I was so taken aback and instantly asked, “Lord, what are you saying?”. Right away I decided to go to see my mother. I reached home on Jan 15th.In those 2 weeks, God had prepared me for the task of leading my mother’s soul to Jesus. I went to see my mother at her home. I was shocked to see that she had become extremely thin and beyond recognition. She held my hand and said, “I am going to Jesus“. I was speechless. That same night, she was admitted in the hospital.
A friend had reminded me that my first duty was to lead her to Jesus and so I went to the hospital the next morning, held her hands and prayed a prayer of repentance with her. I asked her to get everything right with God, forgive anyone whom she had not forgiven, let go of worldly concerns, etc. I did all this without really knowing that she had only days left to live. Everyday I prayed holding her hands. Each day, I read many Psalms from the Bible to her. As I read, our hearts just rejoiced. Then God gave me the wisdom to ask her to repeat as I read and she would do that. One day as I said, “shall we read Psalms 91?”, without waiting, she quoted the entire Psalm 91. I recorded this moment and that is the last memory I have of her.
I started spending more time at the hospital, reading God’s Word to her and playing some good Christian messages for her. Doctors were suggesting to discharge her and take her home as they didn’t have any further treatment options to offer. But even with all this, my mind still could not understand that she had only few days left to live. I prayed for a miracle and I believed that she still had time left. I simply could not understand that she had only days left.
On Sunday, as there was no one else to help, God gave me the grace to clean my mother and change her soiled clothes, all by myself. The nurse was so surprised to hear that I cleaned and changed her clothes single handedly. I had never taken care of any adult until then. But as I cleaned my mother, I truly felt that that made Jesus happy. It felt like I had done just what He had desired of me.
As doctor continuously suggested to discharge her, I agreed to take out mother to our home on Jan 27th. The Psalm that I read for her that day was Psalm 116. As I came to verse 15, I had a hard time reading out loud”Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.” My mother repeated it along with me. I felt so sad that I had picked this chapter to read without seeing this verse. That morning, a friend posted a song and I instantly learnt the second stanza which talked about God being both my father and mother. I was singing that song repeatedly in my mother’s room that morning. She told me to “buy a Bible with big letters. Read it for your dad just like you did for me”. That was the last thing she instructed me to do.
I started the discharge procedure. At around 10:30 am, she suddenly made gasping sounds. When we asked , she said she had trouble breathing. The doctor asked her what was happening and she replied, “I am going to Jesus”. When a nurse said “don’t be scared” , she replied,”I am not scared”. She was so calm and peaceful as she answered. Then she just repeated, “Jesus, Jesus”. She was admitted in the ICU with oxygen support. As I waited in front of the ICU, I broke down and cried several times, as I remembered this song that I kept singing about God being my father and mother. I believe God was comforting me through this song, even before my mother’s passing.
From there, things only went downhill. She moved from an oxygen tube to a ventilator. Doctor told me to inform the relatives. I had not told my dad about how serious mother’s illness was. Her siblings and many other relatives came to the hospital to see her. On Friday the 29th, when I called her, she opened her eyes and looked at me. I rubbed her arms and said, “mother, I am here”. But her arm hurt as I rubbed, so I just rubbed her shoulder. That was the last time she responded to me.
Since the, the doctor said that she was 100% on the ventilator and that there was no hope left. On Saturday, as I spoke to the doctor, I broke down and said that I could not decide whether to remove my mother from the ventilator or not. I continuously prayed asking God to keep me from making this decision. However, it seemed like this was the only prayer that God wouldn’t answer. I suddenly remembered being mentioned that God won’t take the believing loved ones unless we surrender them to Him wholeheartedly. A friend helped to pray that even after we remove her from ventilator, as it is God who gives us breath, He would give her the breath if it is His will. After this prayer, I had peace about that decision.
On February 1 morning, I went to talk to the doctor. As I waited outside, I prayed for God to help me make the right decision. As I started speaking to the doctor, I felt so much peace and I told him that I am ready to let her go. The doctor said that he will first start weaning my mother off of the medicines she was on, and then will gradually remove her from the ventilator. My mother was off the ventilator that night. But against all odds, she continued to breathe. Even the doctor was surprised.
On February 2nd, by evening, my mother’s oxygen levels dropped down. I still did not understand. I was at the hospital till 7pm. After that, I went home. I called my dad at 8:10. When he asked how she was, I answered, “she will go to heaven whenever her time comes”. I came to know that my mother went to be with the Lord at 8:14 pm. She went to be with the Lord, just when I was saying the above words to my dad. I reached the hospital after 45 minutes. As I saw her face, she had this glorious smile. For one who was on tubes for days, she had a very happy smile. The smile was the evidence that she went to heaven just as she said. February 2nd also happens to be the death anniversary of her mother. She did not have a good relationship with her mother, but what are the odds that both my mother and my grandmother share the same death anniversary date.
My mother and I are witnesses of this amazing grace of Jesus. An entire life time of broken relationship was restored by Jesus in two weeks. Now all I can remember about my mother is this perfect mother-daughter relationship in Christ. He showed grace to my mother in so many ways. My mother always prayed that she would leave without suffering much from sickness. God truly honored that prayer. Though she was diagnosed with terminal cancer that had spread to multiple organs, she did not suffer a bit of pain from cancer. She did not have to leave this world with a broken relationship with me, but left happy and peacefully, giving me the privilege of having taken care of her in every way I possible could, even if it was only for two weeks. Though her life was nothing but broken pieces, she always held on to God. She did not know to let go of some baggage. God taught me about that and sent me to her to help her let go of those burdens she was carrying, preparing her for heaven. God saved me from having to live with a lifelong regret due to our broken relationship. Instead, He restored our relationship. Everyone who I have spoken to in these weeks, have experienced the grace and reconciliation of Jesus. I will continue to proclaim of this amazing grace of Jesus, for His glory. Amen!
