“Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee. Thus will I bless Thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in Thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips.” {Psalm 63:3-5}
“Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after Thee: Thy right hand upholdeth me.” {Psalm 63:7-8}
Sometimes life will throw you a curve ball. Just when you think things will not get any worse, it does. I remember about a month ago getting a call from my husband while he was at work about a close relative being rushed to the hospital because of a heart attack. He needed to go and see him. On the way there he was told to stop by the house first to get this relative’s wife because she will need a ride. When my husband got there the wife is bowed over having stomach pains and vomiting. She said she thinks she’s having a reaction from a medicine she’s taking. Long story short my husband ends up bringing the wife to the emergency room, where the husband has already been admitted for a stent procedure. After many hours and an overnight restless getting treated at the emergency room, they sent her home with anti-nausea meds. Meanwhile, her elderly parents had come in from out of town to supervise over the children since both parents are now in the hospital. During their stay the wife’s mother falls down the stairs carrying dishes to bring to the kitchen. She couldn’t see where she was going at the last two steps and thought she was already at the bottom. She goes flying into a wall of glass that had a beam in the middle. She hits the beam and lands on the floor writhing in pain. Dropping off the wife to the house, my husband finds the mother screaming and writhing in pain. He had no other choice but to bring her next to the emergency. 3 family members in the hospital within 24 hours! In the process he texts me all of these events and I went to the Lord in prayer asking for His help and His mercy for every situation.
Life is very fragile. Sometimes you get the feeling when you’re doing well and everything is great, that you’re invincible and that life will go on being that way. Then life throws you a curve ball and you wonder if there was ever a happy time or if things will ever get better. That was about a month ago and everyone is doing fine now. The husband came home better, the wife is better, and the mother is better – she’s mending wonderfully. She turned out just bruised and shaken but no broken bones. Thank God.
Even though we might not have the power to stop crazy stuff from happening in our lives, we know someone who has the power to make things better. We don’t have to be overcome by what the world can bring us or by what the enemy of our soul can throw at us. We have the Lord and we can always find Him faithful and able to do anything in whatever situation we find ourselves in. We can look to Him and call on Him and ask His help to get involved. I remember that for every time I went to Him in prayer for every text I got from my husband, I found His assurances and His voice telling me He will take care of the situation. That mother falling was scarier than the first relative getting a heart attack. I found myself beseeching the Lord to make her all right and that there will be no broken bones. Truly He is faithful. He knows how to work everything out for our good.
If you know the Lord is with you, and you are always talking to Him, you can always love Him and thank Him and praise Him in whatever situation you find yourself in. I remember just last week a friend said that her friend’s husband had to have an open heart surgery and hence we needed to pray. The surgery was expected to last for six hours but it ended up going for two hours more. When the operation was done the husband was out for a whole day because of anesthesia, and he started to swell up. The doctors were saying they’ve never seen this swelling before. But his wife continued to pray over him and read scriptures over him. We also continued our prayer. The Lord spoke to me during prayer and told me that He will heal him. He kept assuring me he was going to be all right. I started thanking Him for that healing. The next day the wife came to the hospital and found her husband sitting up in a chair and talking, feeling much better.
This morning I got a call from my brother that my aunt who has been in a nursing home for five years had passed away. The Lord had warned me about her passing away since last fall. He told me not to be sad or upset about it. I had asked the Lord for Him not to take her away during winter but hoped it will be during spring. I had totally forgotten about it until sometime today when I looked out the window and saw the trees starting to bloom. I wanted to visit her before she went away but wasn’t able and I started to feel bad about it. So I told the Lord how I was feeling. After talking to Him, in a little while I could see my aunt’s face smiling at me so clearly and she looked like she wanted to talk to me. At first I thought this is just me and I am imagining this. I don’t like the idea of talking to the dead, the Lord has clearly warned us about that in His word. But I kept sensing that she wanted to say something to me. I could see her spirit floating. I would focus on her and I would get this in my spirit, “I love you, Chin.” (Chin is my pet name when I was a little girl.) Finally I felt the Lord telling me to respond to her so I did. I said, “I love you too, Tita Prince…” (Tita means aunt in the Philippines where I was born). Later, the Lord calls me to start my first hour of prayer with Him where I sing to Him for an hour. A couple of songs later I felt like singing the song I wrote, I Will Fly Away. The song starts out with the chorus with these words:
And I will fly away
To leave this world of pain behind
I will fly away
Never again to roam
And I will fly away
Someday He will be my home
Someday I’ll be in my Father’s arms
I started to see my aunt again and I got this in my spirit, “Goodbye Chin.” I found myself saying out loud, “Goodbye, Tita Prince.” When I finished singing the verse and sang the chorus again I started to see a vision in my mind. I saw my aunt’s spirit rising up and up and up into the sky. There in the clouds at the end was Jesus sitting on the throne waiting for her.
I couldn’t help but weep after that. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be sad or upset because clearly she’s with the Lord now, but the whole thing somehow was bittersweet to me. I was wondering how it is like for her to be with the Lord. I wondered what she was feeling. I know she’s happy. Looking at her face I could see there is no more sorrow there nor any more pain. I am happy for her and tried not to be sad at the same time.
At first I really thought I might have just imagined all this. I felt comforted, but doubted at the same time. Then I tuned into the Lord and communed with Him and He told me, “I have let your Tita Prince say goodbye to you.”
I tell you Jesus is the sweetest Friend I know. He is truly a friend that sticks closer than a brother. He is so good and faithful to the end. He is that involved with us in our lives when we make Him involved. All we have to do is talk to Him. That’s the only secret I have to share to those who want more of Jesus: talk to Him. It is not hard, just talk to Him and tell Him all your fears and all your needs. He cares so much for us, there is nothing He will not do for us if we’re always talking to Him and loving Him.
Even when things go wrong, praise Him anyway. Since there is nothing too hard with the Lord and since He loves us so much, we can always praise Him. He is worthy of our praise. He is worthy of our love and adoration because He is faithful and gracious to us. He loves us and gave His life for us at the cross so we can be forgiven of our sins, and so we could be set free in our spirit from the darkness of this world. Through Him we overcome all things in this life. He is a wonderful God, truly worthy of all our praise, always.
“Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea:” {Psalm 65:4-5}
