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- Inspirational 08/25/10 Trust in God [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/sherrys_inspirational/t/2ea8bf23fba7ff23
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Topic: Inspirational 08/25/10 Trust in God
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/sherrys_inspirational/t/2ea8bf23fba7ff23
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From: "Sherry's Inspirational List" <sherrysinspirationallist@hotmail.com>
Date: Aug 23 06:38PM -0400
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/sherrys_inspirational/msg/bf544ae4cb48ddba
Sherry's Inspirational list
MISSION STATEMENT: Our mission is to be the channel, not the source, through
which we pray God's blessings may flow to others. Our ministry is not to
provide counseling, advice, or doctrinal interpretation. For this we refer
you to local spiritual leaders who may know and deal with your needs more
personally. It is our prayer that God may truly bless your day through the
inspiration we seek to channel your way. In Him, Sherry and Jim Heard
When forwarding / copying, please include the entire message.
Trust in God
Author: Anonymous
This is a true story about a friend of mine who after going through a very
tough time in his life, he still trusted in God to carry him through.
I will call my friend Bill, as he wants God to get all the glory for the
story I am about to tell.
Bill was a Boilermaker working on the deep Gold mines of South Africa just
after he got married. His wife was a perfect match and after a few years
they had a son and daughter who were multiple blessings from God.
Bill's work entailed heavy steelwork maintenance and he also worked with
dangerous chemicals such as pure caustic soda and cyanide which was used in
the process of extracting the gold out of the ore. Most of the other
artisans were afraid to work with these chemicals but Bill felt he was well
trained in the safety precautions when handling them, as long as he was very
cautious he felt ok.
Bill prided himself in the fact that he could do any job better and faster
than any other artisan, and no job was too big or too small, he would tackle
any job or challenge with enthusiasm. He not only had to be the best
artisan, but he also had to do the best in all fields of his work. At the
end of the day he would return home to his family totally exhausted from his
work.
At this time in his life he was not a Christian but his wife was totally
committed to Christ, and Bill would occasionally go with her to church out
of duty to his children and his wife. While sitting in Church he would count
the minutes until the service was over, as he didn't really feel God as his
wife said she could.
Bill and his wife slowly started to grow apart and the more his wife got
involved with the church the more involved Bill became with his work. So
much so that Bill's work became first in his life and everything else became
second, including his family.
At a point the gold price on the world markets fell to an all time low and
the mines started to re-trench employees and close certain sections of the
mines, as they could not afford to keep them running.
Bill decided to go for an interview for a job at a cement factory about 150
kilometers from the gold mine he was working on to see if he could get
better job security. He got the job and accepted it without hesitation,
without even considering his wife's feelings about moving. Bill's wife had
been borne and raised in the same town and her whole life, friends, church
and family were in the same town.
To cut a long story short they moved and Bill started the process of being
the best all over again at his new work.
Bill was so involved in his new work that he didn't even notice the
depression his wife went into. He was more concerned with what was happening
in his own life at that point. At least he was providing for his family the
best he knew how, well so he thought.
All through this time his wife never stopped praying for Bill to become a
Christian and she had the faith in our God that it would someday come to
pass. Bill and his wife attended the local church; Bill only went because
his wife was afraid to go to the church because she never knew anyone and
she felt insecure on her own. After a few months Bill started skipping
church and eventually stopped going altogether. His wife at the same time
fell deeper and deeper into depression.
She started going to see the pastor for counseling and they started a
relationship as friends, he became a comfort to her and she could talk to
him about the Lord, which she couldn't with her husband.
One day at work Bill got a letter. It was strange to get a letter at work
because he had a post box and all his mail was sent there. He opened the
letter and it read as follows:
DO YOU KNOW ABOUT YOUR WIFE'S AFFAIR?
That was the day Bill's life fell apart. Bill had grown up in a divorced
home and the first thing that came into his mind was that history repeats
itself. All that day at work Bill was wrestling with the contents of the
letter, he didn't know for a fact if the letter was a prank or not. He was
totally unable to work or to communicate with anyone. Bill went to his boss
and asked for a few days leave because he had serious family problems to
attend to.
As he got home his wife immediately knew something was wrong, as she had
never seen Bill with that expression on his face before. Bill told the
children to get their swimming costumes and go swim at the recreation club
swimming pool for the afternoon.
Bill showed his wife the letter and demanded an explanation. I must also say
that Bill was desperately trying to hold onto his sanity at this point. Bill
had immigrated to South Africa from Zimbabwe after a terrible civil war and
he had done two years mandatory service in the South African defense force
where he served in the main offensive into Angola in 1997. He thought to
himself that if he could get out of the war alive after seeing what men are
capable of doing to each other, then he would be able to survive anything
the world could throw at him. Except what was happening to him and his wife
at that point. His wife confessed that she was indeed having an affair and
the person was the pastor of their church. It had been going on for some
months.
What I am about to write is the facts as they were and I am writing them as
they were without trying to put the blame on anyone or to give anyone any
credit either.
Obviously Bill was devastated; he didn't even see this coming. A complete
curve ball. After much discussion and with Bill fighting to understand what
was going on and what he should do next he went outside in the dark and a
feeling came over him, one he had never felt in his life before. He later
realized it was the Holy Spirit which had come over him. In a state of total
broken-ness the Lord had come to him. He spent the next few hours on a
roller coaster of emotions, from deep depression to an intense joy. Bill
thought this to be extreme, and he didn't understand it at all. Bill gave
his life to the Lord that night and pleaded with the Lord to forgive and to
help him. He also asked his wife for forgiveness and at the same time
forgave her.
The following morning (neither Bill nor his wife had slept) Bill realized
that he had not been the ideal husband and admitted his failure to his wife.
Although he was deeply hurt he realized that he still loved his wife and he
didn't want to be separated from his children. Bill phoned the Pastor and
told him to come to his house.
The Pastor arrived and Bill sat everyone down. He asked his wife to make a
decision to stay with him or to go with the Pastor. Bill's wife decided to
stay with him. The Pastor then said that his life and his ministry was over
and he would have no alternative but to kill himself. Bill immediately told
the Pastor that as an adult he was responsible for his own actions and what
ever he did was his own responsibility, he then told the Pastor to leave and
that he was no longer welcome in Bill's house.
Needless to say the Pastor was transferred to another church and Bill's wife
stood up in front of the whole congregation and confessed, regardless of the
consequences and asked for forgiveness. This act was a risk that she took,
she could have been totally rejected from the congregation but they could
see her true remorse and how sorry she was for allowing the affair to have
happened. This was a true step of courage and faith, some people would
rather move to another church then face judgment from others. Yes there were
some people who condemned her even to this day, but Bill's wife knows that
she did the correct thing before God and the Church. She spent many months
learning how to cope with the stigma some people placed over her, but our
God and Bill were always there for support.
Bill was asked one day as to why he didn't do anything to stop the Pastor
from preaching and to get him out of the church altogether. Bill replied
with the following:
At the time of my need before God I asked him to forgive me for all that I
had done in my life. How could I expect God to forgive me and then not
forgive Pastor? The other reason is if God can still use Pastor to save just
one more soul for him, isn't that more important than my own life or the
guilt and shame that I will have to carry with me for the rest of my life.
Judgment is not for me but for God. Pastor will have to ask God for
forgiveness for what he has done, if God does forgive him then it must be
so. Although the pain from going through such an ordeal does not just go
away, I have learned how to truly forgive. I have forgiven myself, my wife
and Pastor. To forgive someone is indeed a difficult thing for anyone to do,
but remember this one thing, if you cannot forgive someone for what they
have done to you, how then can God forgive you for your sins? And we are all
sinful.
Bill and his wife are living quite extraordinary lives now; they are
involved in the church, Sunday school, Emmaus movement and the Kairos prison
ministry for maximum-security prisoners. Bill got a new job in the same
cement factory, which has much better working conditions and a higher
salary. Bill and his wife sometimes talk for a long time about the Lord or
his word and their children seem to glow with happiness. Yes there is still
pain and at times problems do arise, but Bill and his wife have an
advantage. God is in their hearts and he will always provide. Bill's wife
actually prayed for Bill to be truly saved for a ten-year period of true
faith that the Lord will save him. It took something drastic for Bill to
turn to the Lord. If you were to ask Bill today what makes all this
possible, he will reply - TRUST IN GOD.
The reason I am sharing this story of Bill and his wife is because
situations like this are often not brought out into the open within our
churches.
If you have been in a similar situation and can relate to this story, I pray
that this story will give you inspiration to seek God's word, and to do what
he commands us to do, acknowledge your weaknesses as a person and ask God to
strengthen you on your journey of life, and remember, when things get tough,
TRUST IN GOD.
"And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that
your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if
ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your
trespasses." - Mark 11:25-26
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may
be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." -
James 5:16
"Bely mekaar julle misdade en bid vir mekaar, sodat julle gesond kan word.
Die vurige gebed van 'n regverdige het groot krag." - James 5:16
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In His Service, <>< Sherry and Jim Heard
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