God must be amused at those who say He doesn’t exist; or, if existing, isn’t really, you know, GOD. Doesn’t do stuff the Bible says He does.
One of you sent me this last week. I asked permission to remove names and pass this story on, for I believe we all can use some reassurance and a strengthening of our faith from time to time.
Read on . . .
“My wife is Indonesian and her cousin is a Christian minister in that country. While performing funeral services where the ashes of the dead are put in the ocean, enormous and devastating ocean waves suddenly occurred. Several people in the party taking part in the ceremony were sucked out into the ocean and drowned.
“One of them who was pulled out with the undertow and perished was the minister. His wife and twin brother refused to accept that the body would not come back to where it was taken from, though Indonesians say this never happens.
“She asked everyone to stay and the group prayed and sang. After about an hour the pastor’s body DID appear almost at the same spot where he stood in the water before the waves hit. Onlookers that witnessed it were all amazed and made comments to the effect of “YOUR God is awesome!”
“Indonesia has many non-Christians and there is a strong occult presence in that nation.
“Pray for the families of the dead, the minister’s wife and his brother. I would think it would be especially difficult to lose a brother who is an identical twin.
“I’m sure this sounds a bit like the myths and frauds that we’ve all seen on the Internet, but my wife has been communicating with several of her family members in Indonesia, and she showed me a video of the violent waves.”
Think of it this way. Consider reading this account in, say, Matthew 14. Would this seem out of place next to Jesus feeding that huge crowd from a little boy’s Happy Meal, or strolling across the top of a storm so violent the seasoned sailors who followed Him were dead sure they were shark chum?
God’s not just sitting in the Command Chair on the bridge of His Universe. He’s overseeing and controlling Earth events just like this one, and for the same reasons. Understanding the how and why of it is beyond me. God never has forced anyone to believe He’s who and what the Bible says He is; yet He’s sure made a whole lot of folks wish He had.
I know you’ve heard people say, “If God were to do stuff now like He did in New Testament times, I’d believe!” Well, He just did. This time it happened to be in Indonesia.
My 2nd Cup friend writes, “My wife is spiritually rock solid and not easily shaken. We’ve all heard the line, “If there’s a God, how could things like Orlando happen?” But it seems equally or more valid to say if there isn’t a God, then how can so many amazing, inexplicable, beautiful things “randomly” happen?
He’s right. We see that for which we look. The Internet, through social media, is humming and vibrating with story after story of different aspects of The Church stepping in and up to love and support the Orlando community. All of it.
Thank you, 2nd Cupper, for letting me borrow your story.
I love watching and telling about how God’s working in our world today, right here, right now.
© D. Dean Boone, June 2016