Fearlessly forward – Day 10

[In the past, several readers testified about what God has done in their lives. Here are excerpts from a few e-mails.]

Reader 1, Mauritz: “Five years ago I was working for a large international firm. However, during the November to December period, a group of us were retrenched. It was a big shock to us all. I had an option to join a new firm and I also applied for various positions at other companies. While I prayed about the decision, the words in Matthew 14:22 stood out for me with this clear vision in my heart: ‘Get out of the boat (the safe environment), walk on the water (no logical support) to Jesus, with your eyes fixed on Him. Trust Him and do not let waves (economic conditions) or the dark water (questions about how I would survive on my own) get you down. Do not look back at the boat (safe working environment). Just keep your eyes on Jesus and you will not sink.’ I started my own business as an independent business consultant. Today, five and a half years later, I am still self-employed with one person working for me while I earn more than what I did at the major international firm. This is the value of maintaining eye contact with Jesus daily. He remains my main business partner.”

Reader 2: “When I found out that my husband was unfaithful to me, it almost crushed me. However, I can testify that God gave me the strength to forgive and forget. Today it is 10 years later and as I look back, I know that with my hand in His, anything is possible. It was the best thing I could do because today our family is in unity and we together can proclaim: Jesus is King. All honour to Him.”

Reader 3: “After reading the piece ‘I will do it myself’, I realised that the message was indeed for my husband and I. We’ve been trying to do everything ourselves and are now experiencing a crisis as we did not consult God in our plans. We are going to change that today. By the way, we have two small children — the one is 21 months old and the other three and a half years. When I think of how much I want to help them when they want to do everything on their own, I can imagine how God must feel when He wants to help us and we also choose to do it on our own!”

Reader 4, Cathari-Ann: “Last December, I went to visit my son Christopher in London. My heart’s desire was to see snow as I have never experienced it. London was cold, but not cold enough for snow. My son planned a ‘road trip’ for us to Scotland. Since his license expired and we rented a car, I had to drive while he was the navigator. He typed the address into the GPS of his phone and off we went. A large part of the journey was on the highway before the GPS directed us off the highway. Although it was strange to Christopher, he still recommended that we take the indicated route. After about 50 km, my son was pretty upset, because we realised the GPS gave us a ‘country road’. We were about to turn around when we suddenly drove into an area covered by snow. I immediately stopped, jumped from the car and ran into the field, enjoying every moment of my snow. In my heart I knew it was God’s gift to me because He knew my heart’s desire. For the rest of the journey we did not see snow again.”

God is a good Father to us all. In Psalm 136:1 the psalmist writes: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” And in Psalm 100:5 we read: “… the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.” God wants to lead when we need wisdom in the workplace; He wants to strengthen and enable us to forgive because He knows that we are freed in the process; He wants to lead us and help us despite us wanting to do everything on our own; and He wants to demonstrate his goodness to us by making our deepest heart’s desire a reality. When last have you thanked Him for his goodness? God bless.