Encounters with God
I have decided to share some of our encounters with
God in this post. Simply because I find it encouraging to hear other people’s testimonies.
I hope that our testimony might encourage somebody else in return. And, it’s
about giving glory to God. 1 Chron 16: 8-9 tells us to make His deeds known
among the people and to tell all of His wonderful acts.
Finally alive
The biggest, most wonderful miracle that has happened
in my life, was the night when I was born again. I was thirteen years old and on
a church camp for Grade Sevens. One of the ministers explained salvation and I
understood it for the first time. But, I did not respond to the altar call. I
knew that this was something between only me and Jesus, (I’m not saying that
there are anything wrong with altar calls. But for me, being an introvert, I
felt more comfortable dealing with it privately). So, that night, alone in the
bunker bed, I made a simple prayer with a sincere heart and went to sleep.
The next morning, I immediately knew that something
was different. It was as if a light has been switched on. With amazement I realized
that every word of the hymns that we sang that day spoke directly to my soul. I
was filled with an unspeakable joy. I was indeed born again through the Spirit
of God.
Ruach haKodesh
The second, most wonderful miracle happened almost
twenty five years later. Two weeks after being baptized in the Jordan River, my
husband and I were both baptized with the Holy Spirit and started speaking in
tongues immediately. What an amazing
gift the Holy Spirit is! He is everything Jesus said He will be. He is fire,
power, comfort and wisdom. He is our daily encounter with God.
A dream
I’m on a gluten and dairy free diet, because these
ingredients can trigger a flare-up in Rheumatoid Arthritis. This means that I
have to always check the ingredients of products before buying them. But, I usually
only look out for the ingredients that indicate the presence of gluten and
dairy. The other, mostly unpronounceable names, are translated in my mind as “blah,
blah, blah,” if you know what I mean.
One such an ingredient used to be Sulphur dioxide. I didn’t know what it was and didn’t even give it
a second thought until the day that I ate half a dried-fruit roll. That night I
had the strangest dream. The words Sulphur
dioxide was presented to me in different ways. The best way to describe it
is, like a PowerPoint presentation. But it was far more magnificent.
I woke up the next morning with these words clearly
edged in my mind and a big arthritis flare-up. While gathering the strength to
move my stiff, painful joints in order for me to get out of bed, I tried to
figure out what has caused this flare-up. “Go check the label on that fruit
roll” came the instruction. So I did and, there it was, the words from my
dream, Sulphur dioxide. Needless to
say, it’s no longer on the “blah, blah, blah” list!
A vision
One night I seeked an answer from God on a specific
matter and decided that I will stay up and pray until I get an answer. But
halfway through praying I started feeling drowsy and rather went to bed. My
husband was already fast asleep, so I just quietly slipped into bed without
switching on a light. Just as I closed my eyes, there was light. “Now why did
he switch the light on?” I thought and opened my eyes, only to find myself
covered in a blanket from head to toe. I became aware of “singing” on one note,
a very high pitched note, by lots of voices. This sound evoked a feeling of
urgency in me. On the other side of this blanket, that covered me, there was a
bright light and also Someone who was desperately trying to reach out to me,
but the blanket was in the way. I closed my eyes again and when I opened it, all
was back to normal.
I explained my startled state to my husband as the
result of a weird dream and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. Only the next
morning did I realize the significance of the vision I had.
Divine instructions
So, how do you hear His voice? From the inside out. I can’t
write about all the times that I’ve heard God’s voice because it’s almost on a
daily basis. But there are two accounts that stand out for me that I will share
with you.
While praying one morning, the thought came to my mind
that I must give a Bible as present to somebody whose birthday was coming up. I
was planning on giving him something completely different, but the instruction
was very clear: “Give him a Bible.” So I did and when he opened his present he
was very thankful, because, his own Bible was nowhere to be found!
On another occasion, I was standing at the counter in
a pharmacy. I overheard the conversation next to me between a couple and the pharmacist.
They had to buy medicine prescribed for their little boy but did not have
enough money to get everything. They were short of seventeen Rand and a few
cents and decided to leave one of the items. Suddenly I heard: “You have twenty
Rand in your wallet.” Now, I didn’t even know I had twenty Rand in my wallet
and this voice was so clear that my heart rate went up. I had no choice but to
give them the twenty Rand right there. The amazement on their faces were
priceless. They knew that God has provided for them.
Guardian angels
On my way home one afternoon, with my daughter also in
the car, I had to wait at a busy T-junction. The cars were passing by in
endless strings and I was loosing my patience, so was the driver waiting in the
car behind me. Finally, I saw a gap. The car approaching from my right was
indicating a left turn and the string of cars on my left were still a safe
distance away. I took the gap and turned right into the T-junction. It was then
that I realized the car that indicated a left turn was not making a left turn
but was, instead, coming straight at me! It was one of those slow-motion
moments when your heart misses a beat and you feel pins and needles on your scalp.
According to all the laws of nature there should have been a crash. And, it
would have been a fatal crash. But there was no crash.
People asked me: “Did you fly over the car?” “Did the
car drive through you?” I don’t know
what happened. All I know is this, there should have been a crash but there wasn’t
and even my then seven year old daughter realized this. She kept on asking me: “What
just happened?” but I was too overwhelmed with the realization that God still
has a purpose for me on this earth to answer her.
My husband was waiting for a traffic light to turn
green in a dodgy area of Johannesburg. Suddenly a man opened his passenger door
and started to get into the car. This was it, he thought, I’m being hijacked.
But, he felt no fear as he turned to face the intruder. The moment his eyes met
with those of his hijacker something strange happened. The man could not get
into the car. His eyes went the size of sources and he turned ash white. In the
meantime, a second man has opened the driver’s door and was reaching for the
keys in the ignition. But just as he touched the keys, he pulled his hand back
quickly as if being burned. Just then the light turned green and my husband
drove of as if nothing happened, only realizing after a while that his car
doors were closed.
The floodgates of heaven
God provides in all our needs. This post is becoming
too long so I have to cut back on some of the stories. But I must, however, just
share one more…
Two years ago we finally had the opportunity to make a
life long dream come true. We could travel to Israel. But the Rand weakened and
the tour price escalated to such and extend that we had to take out a loan to
cover the expenses. Something we did not want to do. About a week before
leaving on our pilgrimage, God opened the floodgates of heaven for us. My
husband received a payback from an allowance that, for years, was never paid
out to him. It was exactly the amount we needed plus some spending money! It
was as if God has saved the money for us all these years, only to pay it out
right on time for our trip.
To God be all the glory!
God bless
Madeleine
