Sunday, September 23, 2007

I WILL TAKE YOU HOME...

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Psalms 23:4



A famous verse from the Psalms 23. One which Max Lucado try to expound through his book,
"Travelling Light".


I WILL TAKE YOU HOME
The Burden of The Grave


Max asked questions which throws me off guard:


If God calls you Home tomorrow, Will you be ready to go with Him?


I remember when i was young, I would hope that Jesus would just come and bring me home, so that i can stay with Him forever. Such Joy and wonder it would be to be with my precious Jesus. As the years goes by and as I grow, I wonder had my answer change.

" Yes Lord, I do want to stay with You in your Kingdom. BUT,
I'm a little bit preoccupied now, I still haven't done enough for you Lord."

"BUT, I'm still so young, Lord"

" Yes Lord, BUT i still haven't finish my studies!"

" BUT, I still haven't become a doctor !"

"BUT, I still haven't gotten married!"


If God calls me home tomorrow, what will i say?

I hope that
when the time comes, I will be ready to go with Him without any excuses at all .

Max Lucado assured me about 2 things:

1) Whatever appointments we meet, We must be sure that we will meet death too.
- To accept the fact that we will die

2) That Jesus Himself will come and bring us home.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." John 14:1 - 4


As Max Lucado put it,

" ...God sent Missionaries to teach you, Angels to protect you, Prophets to guide you, Teachers to train you, Singers to inspire you,
But HE HIMSELF will come and take you home !"

Such assurance my Lord had made for me. That He will walk with me through the valley of the shadow of death, and with His rod and staff , He comforts me. So that i shall not fear death, Or the process of dying.

Thank you, Lord for the assurance ! =)





Another question crept through my mind :

How would you then, choose your death?


I don't know. Yet, a very famous, true story inspires me.

The story about 5 missionaries who went to reach out to the Waodani Tribe in Ecuador. Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian, loved God and the Waodani people, and in the process, were speared to death. Yet never once did they defend themselves with the guns in their hands. Their death inspires Jim's spouse , Elizabeth Elliot, and Nate's Sister , Rachel Elliot to enter into the village to bring God's love to the Waodani.

This is the excerpt, taken from the book "End Of The Spear" , written by Steve Saint, the son of Nate Saint :-

"... I could see the pain in their (Waodani Indians) faces. They were all wishing that at least one of the five (missionaries) had survived their hatred. I think they would have liked to have been able to explain to at least one of the men that they had gone to spear them because of hatred was the only way they knew to live then. As Mincaye says, " We acted badly, badly until they brought us God's carvings. Now, Seeing His marking and following His trail, we live happily in peace."

It is only my conjecture , because none of us can know the will of God, but I think it fit God's plan that all five men died. I know i might offend some who have a narrower opinion of the parameters within which God must operate, but i don't think what happened to my dad and his four friends caught God by surprise. Nor do I think God simply allowed it. No, after learning in detail what happened on January 8, 1956 - while I was anxiously waiting to see the speck of my dad's little 56 Henry airplane appear over Penny Ridge - I believe God was much more involved in what happened than merely failing to intervene.

Pete could have fled. If he had, the Waodani said that they would not have followed him. One of the men could have climbed up into the tree house and called from there on the extra radio to let the world know what was happening. Dad could have gotten into the plane and take off. Kimo, Dyuwi, and Mincaye (the Waodani) could have run away like they started to do. What if the only beach in all six thousand square miles of Waodani territory had not been near a Waodani village and right on a commonly used hunting trail? The Waodani propably would have never found dad and his friends. What if Nenkiwi and Nampa had not been feuding? What if Gikita was expecting a raid from the downriver part of the tribe? It is unlikely that he would have been willing to risk their once-in-a-lifetime -- no, their once-in-all-time -- chance for friendly contact with the outside world, just to keep Nampa or Nenkiwi from spearing the other one.

There are too many factors that all had to work together to have allowed the events to happen as they did. Too many for me to believe it was just chance. I have come to the conclusion that God did not look away. he did not simply allow this to happen. I think He planned it. Though this has not been an easy conclusion to come to, I believe it is the right one.

I have personally paid a high price for what happened on Palm Beach. But I have also had a front-row seats the rest of the story has been unfolding for half a century. I have seen firsthand that much good has come from it. I believe only God could have fashioned such an incredible story from such a tragic event.

I could not begin to record the thousands of people who have told me that God used what happened on palm Beach to change the course of their lives for good. Besides, it is enough for me that because Mincaye killed my father, my family now has the previlege of loving him and being loved by him. And because my dad (Nate), Jim and Ed and Pete and Roger were willing to die, Kimo and Dyuwi and Gikata and Ompodae and Temanta and Gaba and Odae and Tidi and Dawa and Cawaena and Coba and Gaacamo and their children and their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren and many others will have a chance to live. if i could go back now and rewrite the script, I would not change a single scene. I have come to understand that life is too complex and much too short to let amateurs direct the story. I would rather let the Master Storyteller do the writing. I don't say that casually. What happened to dad was extremely traumatic for me, But even so it has not been the most difficult event in my life. "



Those were the words written by Steve Saint himself. Such powerful words of forgiveness and Love that can flow not through our human hearts, but through God's grace and Love. The Will of God , the path of God is higher than anyone of ours.


In
John 12:24, Jesus said,

" I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds."

I do not know what kind of death I would choose. Could it be that I would die of old age on a comfortable bed? Or could it be that I would die in an accident? Or could it be that I would die at the hands of others? This I do not know.

But one thing i know Lord, that when the time comes, it is the time you have planned for me. A time that you would make good out of tragic. Hope out of hopelessness , Life out of death and that Your Name will be Glorified !!!


Be Still My Heart For My Lord Knows Best... =)















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