THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER

This has been an unusually eventful week.  On Thursday and Friday Tante Yuni went to ER and ended up spending the night there.  She was in so much pain that she could barely stand, let alone walk.  By the grace of God, she is now fine, and back in the nursing home.  On Friday Oom Johnny was admitted to ER for internal bleeding.  By the mercy of God, he is now resting at home.  And, on Saturday Tante Agnes was taken to ER after passing out at a fast food restaurant.  She is spending the night in the hospital for further check-up.  On a more upbeat note I am pleased to report that our sister Bertha is now recuperating steadily from Covid-19.  Praise God!

As your pastor I would like to thank you not only for caring but also for praying for our brother and sisters who fell ill this week.  I knew a multitude of prayers went up to the throne of God this week.  As always, He heard our prayers; and as always, we gave Him thanks.  When we give thanks, not only are we thankful to Him for delivering us from dangers, but also—more importantly—for reassuring us that He, who is with us, has overcome the world and all its troubles. No matter what the sizes of our problems are, He is still far greater!

Problems—sickness included—can derail us from God’s path.  We might question God’s goodness; and in the end we walk away from Him in disobedience.  You see, for some of us problems—sickness included—signify mistakes, God’s mistakes.  When we see God as a God who makes mistakes, we’ll then open the door to questioning His decisions and in the end we give room to disobedience.  Even though God does not always make our feeble sense, God does not make mistakes. I believe it is Corrie ten Boom who once said, “Obedience is easy when you know you are being guided by a God who never makes mistakes.”  So, hang on to obedience; don’t let go.

Pastor Paul