November 21, 2021

The Shepherd's Corner

You might still remember Lyna, the restaurant server who suffered a brain hemorrhage that left her paralyzed. God called her home last year and yesterday her mother, whom I call Aunty Yen, went back to Indonesia for good. When I think of her, I am reminded that we really do not know about tomorrow. We can understand yesterday, and we can face today but we are clueless about tomorrow.

A dozen of years ago she said goodbye to Lyna, wishing her a new and better life in America. Three years ago, she came here to find her daughter in a coma after the massive hemorrhage. For two years everyday she took care of Lyna but last year she had to bid her farewell. And yesterday she went home to Surabaya alone.

Oswald Chambers sums it well, “The path to God is never the same as the path of God. When I am going on with God in His path, I do not understand, but God does; therefore, I understand God, not His path.”  We do not understand the path of God—the path that He has us walk on—but this unknown path will always lead us to God. Along the way we shall know Him better and trust Him and love Him more. This unknown yet blessed path will always lead us to Him.

Aunty Yen told me that whenever she prays, she somehow finds it more at home praying to God in the same way Lyna used to pray—through Jesus Our Lord—than in her previous way. She now knows Jesus Our Lord much better than before, and she is beginning to trust Him more and more. As far as I am concerned, I, too, have been blessed. Whenever we talked, knowing my health challenges, she always assured me that I am in her prayers. But it’s not only her, several Lyna’s friends have become my friends and they, too, pray for me. You see, one of the greatest blessings is to be prayed for.

Pastor Paul

More Shepherd's Corner Articles

The Shepherd's Corner - August 6, 2023
Lewis Smedes, in his book, The Art of Forgiving, tells a story of his own doing—hurting a couple of people that he admired greatly.  He said something about them.  In his own admission, “They were the last two people in the world whom I would have wanted to wound.  But what I said...
Read More
The Shepherd's Corner - September 01, 2024
On Wednesday morning, Christ Our Lord came to take Oom Peter Subadya, Santy’s dad and my father in-law, home. For years he was bedridden, unable to stand and walk; and had to endure discomfort and sometimes pain. Several times he was rushed to the hospital for emergency care, taken on a stretcher,...
Read More
The Shepherd's Corner - December 8, 2019
THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER On Thursday at 8 o’clock in the morning, Our Lord Jesus came and took our brother Tensas to his final and eternal home. Just two Sundays ago he was still here with us but today he is in heaven with our brothers and sisters who have gone before us. To quote the […]...
Read More