Saga CIty, Honjo
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I set you apart."
Jeremiah 1:5
We may think about the future and plan our lives as carefully as possible, but God has the final word. He is the one who turns our dreams into reality or transforms our lives in a sharply different direction. His way is always so much better than we could have chosen because His thoughts are higher than ours.
Nine years ago, one month before I supposedly resign from my job being a teacher and I was about to start my formal training to be a nun, God showed Himself to me in a humble Bible study in the school where I used to teach and I accepted Him as my Lord and Saviour. I could not express the joy and peace I experienced at that moment. All I had in mind was to stay and enjoy His presence. I have been searching for that peace, joy and fulfillment for many years which I thought I would find them and give my life meaning when I become a nun. I realized that only Jesus was lacking to give full meaning to my life and filled that emptiness in my heart. God dramatically changed my decision in becoming a nun to be an ammbassador for Him. Truly, God opens the door of heaven to anyone who opens his heart to Him.
His word in Jeremiah 1:5-10 gave great impact in my life after I received that prophecy which caused me to accept the responsibiltiy as a youth pastor and a cell leader and at the same time I continue my teaching profession and used it to share my Lord and His word to my students and co-teachers. God started using me when I was invited in one of the radio stations in Mindanao and asked me to share my testimony of salvation through air or over the radio. After this public declaration of my faith, persecutions from loveones, friends and society were so tremendous but God assured me that the sufferrings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in me (Romans 8:18). For blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him (James 1:12). I pressed on sharing God's word until my younger sister and brother turned from their old ways and accepted Christ and were baptized.
I remember when my nephew was admitted to the hospital because of the virus that attacked his brain. According to the doctor who examined him, the effect of that virus once it reached the brain, is so fatal which would led to the death of the victim. And there were two children who died because of this virus before my nephew was admitted. I could hardly bear looking at my nephew who was restless and suffered so much at that time. God gave me that peace and assurance that with Him nothing is impossible. Me and my younger sister, who is also a Christian, were interceeding at the back of the isolated room where my nephew was being treated. They took one vial (small bottle) of fluid from his backbone which according to them it contained thousands of virus that would supposed to go to the brain. The doctors were surprised why my nephew was able to survive from this kind of ailment. He was the first patient who survived. God indeed intervened! He is our Jehovah Rapah - The Great Healer! To Him be the glory for everything. Because of that my family recognized my Lord and everytime my nephews and nieces get sick and hospitalized, they always request me to lay my hands for prayer.
God was not yet finished accomplishing His works through me as a matter of fact it has no end. It was in my fourth year of being a Christian and God was continiously using me and transforming me in the way He wanted me to be. He removed everything in my life that would hinder His perfect will to be accomplished through me. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth that gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (I Peter 1:7). Because He knows the way I was taking and when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold (Job 23:10). We were in the Hope Mountain, our prayer mountain in Davao City. It was on our third day of prayer and fasting , when God spoke to me through a word of knowledge through a pastor. At that time I didn't know that pastor and he didn't know me either. God used that pastor to bring His message for me. God told me to cut-off my relationship with my boyfriend and surrender our plan of getting married. Because it was not yet His time for me to get married and that man was not His perfect mate for me and most of all God wanted to use me to the fullest. By then I was reminded of these words "Hear and Obey". Because I believe blessing comes when I obey and curse if I would disobey ( Deutoronomy 11). I sought the Lord and pray overnight and the following day, I did what the Lord had told me. God's peace and grace sustained me and His promises kept me going. God used me in missions for a couple of years. His time came when He sent my way my lifetime partner in which both of us were involved in missionary works and still we are involved now.
Six months before I got married, God gave me a vision of confirmation during our Condensed World Missions Course (CWMC) in Davao City, the flag of Japan, which my husband has a burden for this nation. We believe God has a devine purpose why He sent us here - For The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19).
Friends, to make something of your life, give your life to God. To Him be all the glory!
