On Monday around 4 pm in the presence of Tante Foen, Our Lord Jesus came and took Oom Tek Ho home. It was a quiet and peaceful moment of homegoing. All this time Tante Foen had taken care of Oom Tek Ho, day and night, so it was perfectly fitting for her to be there with him alone to witness his farewell. See you again, Oom.
On Thursday before last, Tante Foen called and asked me to come right away because Oom Tek Ho was weakening. Just like the last time I saw him in the hospital, he was already not responding. We, then, sang praises, read the Scriptures, and prayed for him. While we were doing that Tante Foen noticed that he, who had just been somewhat restless, suddenly calmed down. We could tell, from his facial expression, that he was now sleeping in peace—God’s peace.
We can only estimate our time of birth (natural birth, that is) and we can only estimate our time of death (natural death, that is). We come into the world in God’s time, and we leave this world in God’s time. God has His time for all His works and for all His creations, us included. God has His time for us to be born, to attend school, to graduate, to find a job, to be married and raise families. He has His time for us to be sick, to be well, to be poor and to be rich. He has His time for us, and all are appointed in love with eternity in view.
Psalms 37:23 says, “The STEPS of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” On the margin of his Bible next to this verse, George Muller, a German who started orphanages in England by faith in God alone, added this notation, “The STOPS also.” God guides our STEPS but there are times He orders our STOPS, to wait for Him. All his life God ordered the STEPS of Oom Tek Ho but on Monday, August 23, 2021, God ordered the STOPS, to welcome him to His Eternal Home.
Pastor Paul