Always Faithful – Through It All
22 Sep 2021
It was January 2018. I was contemplating our return to East Asia in a weeks’ time. We had started hearing of the intense government oppression of a large minority people there, and how the police were interrogating expat workers in various parts of the country. The country’s leader was becoming more powerful and making his wishes known.
Frankly, I was unsure and scared about what would happen to my family and me upon our return. I spent the beginning of the night pouring out my fears and uncertainties to the LORD. After that, I flipped open my Bible, it landed on Psalm 27. “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?” The LORD provided an answer for my fear that very night and assured me I had nothing to fear because He was with me.
Throughout the rest of that year in the country, whenever fear threatened to consume or overwhelm, I would read that Psalm again. It became the battle hymn of my year. It was a year I would never forget, a year full of twists, turns, and bumps, but the Lord provided me what Jesus promised His followers: His peace (John 14:27).
In September 2018, my Mum and Aunty came to visit me while my husband was away teaching in another country. Two days after they arrived, my young son had an asthma attack. It was very scary, but my heavenly Father knew what my family needed, and He orchestrated events so that I had the support of the right medical consultant, a translator, as well as my Mum and Aunty’s physical and emotional support during my son’s weeklong stay in hospital. Many of our friends who were like aunties and uncles to my kids, visited him in hospital, read books to him, told him jokes and played games with him.
Then, one night not too long after my son had come home from hospital, I had a dream that policemen were knocking at my door. It was unusual because I rarely remember my dreams. But this one I recollected. It was a warning.
Sure enough, two weeks later, the police did come knocking, 10 of them in riot gear, while our team was meeting in another teammate’s house for early morning prayer. We had to leave the country very suddenly under incredibly stressful circumstances. I felt like I was living out ‘The Sound of Music’ in real life as I woke my children and took them to the airport at midnight. I remembered feeling glad that I didn’t have to climb any physically tall mountains! We prayed on our way to the airport that we would be able to get tickets as it was too late to buy them online. When we heard that the ticket agent had gone home early that night, we almost despaired, but he came back! He announced that ticket sales were closed because it was within an hour of departure. We begged and begged. He looked at us with our young kids and had compassion on us. He went beyond the call of duty and ran to another floor to get tickets for us, and then chauffeured us to the baggage area.
When we arrived back in Australia, the LORD surrounded us with family. They hugged us, cooked for us, and helped us get back on our feet. Through circumstances that only God could have arranged, we were able to rent a house at a discounted price in a small town, where three of my husband’s four siblings lived. The LORD gave us exactly what we needed in 2019 – rest and healing within a small group of family and friends.
As I look back on those two years, I can see the LORD at the helm of it all. In danger and rest, in Asia and Australia. The LORD provided in so many ways – through answers to prayer, through His Word, through family, through His church, through pre-arranged circumstances. But through all the changes, He was the faithful constant. The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?
- R., a Pioneers worker serving in Asia