you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to
teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. Your own ears will
hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go,’
whether to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:20-21
Greetings to you all and gratitude to our Father
for your journey with us in 2012!!
Glimpse of G0d’s Glory #7
The
daily glimpses of G0d’s gl0ry come as we watch G0d’s servants, O and S0
grow in their f@ith!! At the end of the day each day, I sit and ponder
and I am compelled to give thanks and pr@ise to G0d!! I feel like M0ses
daily as he sat in the cleft of the rock and saw the back of G0d as He
passed by so M0ses could see His gl0ry. I never see Him coming on see
His back as He passes by!! I marvel daily at the G0d I serve, the G0d I
love, and the G0d I live to gl0rify!!
Living in this country where animism and !sl@m are the focus of
most, to choose to be so different from your family, friends, business
clients is quite the challenge to the new f@ith of a young f0ll0wer of
J.s.s. But in the lives of O and S0, I have seen courage and f@ith that
can only come from the Sp!r!t of G0d living in them.
There are 2 big holidays in the !sl@mic religion. R@mad@n and
T@bask!. During R@mad@n, they fast, pr@y and seek G0d’s will for 30
days. T@bask! is the day when they seek G0d’s forgiveness for the year,
remember the time when G0d provided the ram so that Abraham would not
have to sacrifice his son, and they themselves make a sacrifice and eat a
lot of meat!
This year during R@mad@n, O chose to f0ll0w the ways of J.s.s. G0d’s
Sp!r!t lead her to continue walk with Him instead of following the
traditions of her family, friends, and even her country. She chose to
put her f@ith in J.s.s and live that out before her family and friend.
Because of her f@ith and obedience to J.s.s, her confession about this
year during R@mad@n was this, “This year has been very different.
Normally during R@mad@n, I do not even go to the market. No one is
buying peanuts or ice because they are fasting. This year daily God sold
all my ice and 3 times this month I have had to replenish my peanuts.
People were asking me, ‘What are doing with the white people?’ I said,
‘Nothing. We are pr@ying to G0d and He is helping me.” Just a glimpse of
G0d
giving O courage to change and walk in new ways with Him–a decision she
made and lived out daily, a decision He honored with His f@ithfulness to
walk with her
During T@bask! this year, both O and S0 asked
about whether they should eat the meat their families sacrificed. After
talking about that and the holiday, what our response should be to those
around us, they each were encouraged to f0ll0w whatever G0d was leading
them to do–celebrate with their families or not. In Chr!st we have
freedom, and the most important thing is that we listen to Him and
follow what He says to each of us. It is not always the same answer. S0
decided to separate himself totally for T@bask!. He chose to go to the
market to sell like he regularly does. When I went to the street that
day and saw him, he said, “I just want to spend the day alone with G0d,
listening, seeking, and pr@ying.” He spent 4 days doing just that
Both
O and S0 have faced new life choices as f0ll0wers of J.s.s. They have
to answer the questions about how to live this new life amidst old
traditions. G0d has given them courage to choose J.s.s and His ways!!
Those choices reveal His Gl0ry to those who are still sitting in the
peanut gallery!