Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall…hardship…?
The
question asked is a personal one. Not “what” can separate us but “who”?
The inference is our enemy, Satan, who tries every tactic he can garner
to make us think we can be separated from Christ’s love. Today we look
at his tactic of “hardship.”
Sixteen-year-old Lakech had always
known a stable home in her small Ethiopian village of Moche. Her
childhood as one of eight children was not carefree. But it was
uncomplicated. Her father, a godly man, worked hard to provide the needs
of his large family. They did not have an abundance; but they survived.
While Lakech was growing up, her father and mother came to Christ. They
laboured hard and devoted themselves to bringing up their eight
children in a God-fearing way. But two years ago, her father was framed
by some enemies and charged with stealing trees.
The legal battle
started with a hearing a few days later, dragging on for a year when the
court found Lakech’s father guilty and sentenced him to a year’s
imprisonment. He found himself sharing a cell with about fifty
criminals, and his family was left in turmoil.
At home, mother was
not coping well. Neighbors were mocking the children, claiming their
father would be jailed for seven more years. “I started noticing that it
was hard for my mother to put food on the table,” explained Lakech. “I
could not watch my mother battle on her own. I wanted to finish school,
but it was impossible for me to just carry on,” admitted the timid young
teenager. “My mother needed help.”
Despite her age and innate
shyness, Lakech left school and found a full-time job as a house servant
some distance from her home town. For long periods of time, Lakech
stayed away from home working, sending all her earnings home to her
mother. Following her example, Lakech’s second oldest brother, also in
his teens, quit school and took over the farming on their small land.
Then
the local church began to help support the family, and Open Doors was
alerted to the difficult struggle to just feed the family. The ministry
was able to come alongside the entire family, helping supply their food,
and then paying school fees so Lakech could return home and resume her
studies with her brother.
Soon afterwards, to the family’s great
joy, father was pardoned because of good behavior and released after
serving nearly half of his sentence. He was overjoyed and declared, “I
was saying to myself, by the time I finish serving the sentence, I will
find my family scattered and needy. But it was different. They lacked
nothing and everything was covered.
“I was also thinking no one
will be with us,” Lakech’s mother shared. “But we now are in joy. I am
happy to be relieved from my worries and above all to have my husband
beside me. The Lord has blessed me with these two successes; both my
daughter and husband have come home.”
RESPONSE: I will live this day aware that hardships can never separate me from Christ’s love.
PRAYER: Lord we rejoice in Your goodness and in Your provision for every real need.
No comments:
Post a Comment