Having Faith in a Miracle

Ever since last Sunday when I made a commitment to God to begin serving as a befriender in church, my life has begun to change bit by bit. Firstly, it was my intentional effort to refrain from opportunities that I may fall into sin. Secondly, it was a growing keenness in wanting to share and bring others to know Christ.

That Sunday, when Uncle John shared about the opportunity to sign up for an upcoming ALPHA course to learn how to share the gospel to non-believers, my heart was hesitant, as I wasn’t sure whether I should go for it… or whether I should just sign up at the spur of the moment. So I chucked this thought aside in my mind and stepped into a brand new work week.

I have the habit of reading a book on the bus journey to work every morning. This Monday morning was no different, except that I was reading another book also written by Rev Ross Tooley titled ‘Following Jesus’. When I bought 1 of his book during the recent church camp, somehow I felt an urge to place an order for his other 3 books (1 book was written by another author John Sherrill). At that time, I wasn’t really sure why I did that, except that perhaps I wanted to ‘hear’ more from him, after listening to his inspiring sermons during the recent church camp.

As I began to read this book, I began to start missing him… and miss hearing his sermons. He is really a fatherly figure which just listening to him share God’s word, makes me feel secure, comforted and very at ease. I recalled the scene of him waving to me and Rebecca from the window seat of the other coach, as our buses drove to our church camp site. At the back of my mind, I seriously wondered if I would ever see him again in my life.

That morning on the journey to work, I read the first 4 chapters of his book… and though simple to read and understand, I couldn’t tell if it was impacting my life in any way, except that I enjoyed reading about his spiritual testimonies. Little did I know that a small change had started to stir within me.

Before I left the office at about 7:45pm, I decided to check my personal e-mail. One of the e-mails which I read was sent by Uncle John, reminding us about the ALPHA course and that those interested could contact him to register. At that moment, my heart stirred as I read the e-mail… I didn’t know why, but I decided to brush the thought aside, while I read the other e-mails.

The stirring thoughts refused to budge… and I found myself struggling with the decision to whether or not to go for this ALPHA course. I searched my heart and realized that it was urging me to go, so I decided to take step of faith to go for this upcoming ALPHA course. Once I set my mind on it, the feelings of excitement slowly flooded in… I couldn’t comprehend it.

So I looked at my calendar and to my horror, the date of the course was on the Saturday that I was roster to work! I calmed myself down as I decided to ask my department colleague sitting next to me, requesting if he would be kind enough to swap his Saturday duty with me, so that I could attend this seminar. He said that he wasn’t sure and could only give me an answer tomorrow. I tried not to think about it and left the office.

By the time I had boarded the bus; my interest in attending this course had increased even more. I began to feel so compelled to go because now I felt it strongly in my heart that this is something that I want to attend and learn from. This is what I wanted. So in my next desperate effort, I sent an SMS to another department colleague, asking if she is willing to swap Saturday duty with me. She replied that she has already made an appointment and apologized. My heart sank after reading her SMS reply.

For the whole evening, this thought was unsettled in my mind as I was worried if I could find someone who would be kind enough to swap Saturday duty with me. My thoughts swirled to pessimistic thoughts like maybe some of the colleagues are selfish and don’t want to help me… and how hurtful I would feel, if I had asked all my colleagues even from other departments and not a single one of them is willing to help me.

In another desperate effort, I sent another SMS to my Dept Head, asking if he would be willing to swap Saturday duty with me. For the next few hours, there was no reply… and I was feeling disheartened. I really wanted to go for the ALPHA course. Even though I have no idea what kind of sessions it would be, I just felt very strongly that I wanted to go for this course.

My thoughts swayed to what I read from a previous book also written by Rev Ross Tooley… and he shared about how he wanted to earn and save up enough money to buy a ticket to board a slow moving boat to a country to evangelize as a missionary. He worked hard, but each time he earned some money, God urged him to give part of it away to someone in need.

The final day came when this boat would be leaving for this country… and Ross didn’t have enough money. He had some money, but it was short of a few dollars and he didn’t have anyone to turn to. Similarly, he encountered pessimistic thoughts like why did God ask him to give away some of his money and now he ended up with not enough to buy a ticket to board this boat.

He was downcast, but decided to pray in faith, pack his bag and travel to the harbor to board this boat, even though he was (if I remembered correctly) about $16 short. During the early days, $16 was a lot of money. To cut the long story short, it turned out that God did provide him with a means to board this boat, even though he didn’t have enough money… and he was on his way to that country to serve as a missionary!

I recalled Rev Ross’ testimony of how God provided for him, including many other instances, especially for someone like him who has served for over 40 years as a missionary, without drawing a salary… and God never let him starve.

His testimony gave me hope and I prayed earnestly that Monday night, with still no reply from the SMS that I had sent to my Dept Head. He was the last person in my department that I could ask. If he refused, then there will no one else in my department whom I could swap my Saturday duty, coz the rest of them are also scheduled on the same working Saturday as I was.

I sent an SMS to Uncle John, telling him that I wanted to go for this course, but I had Saturday duty and I am trying to find a colleague who would be willing to swap duty with me. I sent an SMS to Rebecca to pray for me too.

That night, I sang a few worship songs and prayed. And when Rebecca sent me an SMS to encourage me to pray for miracle, I went on my knees to pray, asking God to open a way for me, so that if it is His will, I will be able to attend this course and learn how to better share about Christ with non-believers, be it at the workplace or elsewhere. I prayed in faith that God would grant me my heart’s desire.

If looked upon from a different angle, this may seem like any normal Christian seminar, so why am I putting myself through all this just because of a course like this? I don’t even know what exactly would be taught at this course! Yet all I knew was that my heart felt warm and I wanted to learn how to better share Christ with others.

I went to sleep and woke up the next morning, still without any SMS reply from my Dept Head. I was still thinking about it on the bus to work, while reading Rev Ross’ book again on the bus. In my mind, I was all ready to apply for half day leave, if there is no one else willing or able to swap Saturday duty with me. Why I am willing to sacrifice half day of leave just because of this course, I still did not know… but I knew that the prompting still urged me to go for this course.

Nearing the bus stop that I would usually alight, I decided to stop reading the book because Ross’ testimony was too inspiring and it overwhelmed me so much so that I had to put down the book. Besides, I was nearing my office, so I should get ready to go down the bus. After keeping the book into my bag, I suddenly felt a sense of overwhelming presence just envelope me!

Tears began to appear at my eyes because I just felt so moved from what I read from Rev Ross’ book. I looked outside the window and blinked and blinked, trying to clear the tears by blinking so that the other commuters in the bus wouldn’t wonder why this guy suddenly started to tear after putting down his book.

Right after the tears had cleared, I immediately received an SMS in my mobile phone. Looking at it, I saw that the SMS was from my Dept Head! I hesitated, not knowing how I would react when I opened and read his SMS. I clicked the button and the message read, “Ok. Put up the form.” Short and sweet.

At that moment, tears began to form at my eyes again and I returned to my blinking at the window, occasionally looking here and there, so that the drivers in the cars next to the bus would not look up and wonder why this guy is tearing while looking out of the bus window…

I just felt so touched because God had answered my prayer! I had to wait all night to receive this SMS, but when I finally received this answered prayer, it was so overwhelming that I started to tear again! I was so thankful to God for answering my prayer for I had prayed hard the night before.

I quickly took the opportunity to display a testimony to my Dept Head by sending a reply SMS stating, “THANK YOU! God answered my prayer! =)” And later my Dept Head sent back an SMS with a smiley face indicating his acknowledgment!

While walking to office, I sent another SMS to my other colleague, telling her that God has answered my prayer after I had prayed hard last night. She responded happily too. I did the same verbally to the colleague who was seated next to me at my desk area. He didn’t show any signs of being happy, but I am glad that he knew why I am going through all these trouble, so that I could attend a Christian seminar.

I really thank God for answering my prayer and through the process; I had testified to two colleagues that God had answered my prayer and two other colleagues that I am going through this hassle so that I could attend a Christian seminar! I really hope this could be a start for repeated influence and impact as a Christian in my workplace. To God be the glory! Praise the Lord! =)