Lesson 8—Sometimes God answers our prayers in unusual ways.
On 5th June, 2009, our
Dad passed on, and it was a difficult time for me as the eldest child, because
I was away from home, working in NY, USA, and could not be with him during his
final days. I prayed for that not to be repeated with our Mum. I wanted to be
with her when she passed on. In 2013, our Mum, who was living in The Gambia,
took ill and requested that we take her to the neighbouring country of Dakar,
Senegal, for treatment. We did that, while praying that God would heal the only
parent we had left. She had only been in the hospital for a few days when I
started getting the urge to go and see her. When I finally decided to go a week
later, I was on a plane from New York to Dakar reading the Psalms and Psalm 66,
verse 20, caught my attention because it says: “Blessed be
God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me.” I took it to
mean that God had answered our prayers, and that our Mum was going to be
fine. You can imagine my confusion, shock, and disappointment when she died the
same day I arrived at the hospital in Dakar. After all the hospital
formalities, I went to the hotel, still in shock, and read Psalm 66:20 again,
and as I reflected on it, I got the revelation that God was answering another
prayer that I had prayed, which was that I should be present when our Mum
passes on. Jeremiah 29:11 says: “For I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give
you a future and a hope.” While it was a devastating experience, I was grateful
that God answered my prayer to be with her when she passed on.
Lesson 9—God wants us to take our eyes off
ourselves and look to Him.
I have found that it is while I am
struggling with an issue, praying and feeling sorry for myself that God brings
people with the same issue my way for me to encourage and counsel them. I often
wondered why God would do that. After all, 2 Corinthians 1:3–4 says that He
comforts us so that we can in turn comfort others in similar situations, but
here I was, not yet comforted, but being sent people to comfort! Gideon was
hiding in a winepress threshing wheat, so the Midianites would not rob him of
his harvest, when God met him there and called him a mighty man of valour. Gideon
saw himself as needing to be delivered from the Midianites, whilst God saw him
as the one He would use to deliver Israel from the Midianites (Judges 6 and 7).
Sometimes, we do not realise what
we have and how much of a blessing we can be to others; we need to take our
eyes off ourselves and our situation and be ready to be used by God. So, in this
spirit, I share what I have with others, drawing from my past experiences to
counsel and provide comfort to the one in need.
I wish all my readers a great month of October. Follow your dreams.
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