Thank you so much for your prayers! My brother-in-law and his family landed in Greece last night. They didn’t feel safe in Jerusalem anymore and decided to wait at the airport. There were thousands waiting in the airport and thank God that they got four seats, and their flight wasn’t canceled after many hours of waiting.
My biggest concern in the wait was for my in-laws’ health because I saw that this crisis was having a great toll on their bodies. I wasn’t sure if they would be able to withstand the anxieties until Wednesday. God is merciful and heard our collective prayers.
One key thing that I witnessed when helping my in-laws’ crisis moment was that despite the many friends that my mother-in-law has, she wasn’t able to speak to any of them because she instinctively knew that they would only add to her anxieties. And she knew she would not be able to handle their anxieties upon her crisis. Therefore, she only talked to me.
In my ministry work and in my own life the last 13 years, I’ve seen how much church friends and mentors that I’ve met in the church community have helped each other through great crisis and difficult trials. Do you have these kinds of faithful and mature friends? If not, I highly recommend that you start looking and cultivating these relationships before the storms come. No one knows when but storms come through to everyone on this earth.
One more thing-because of my mom’s immaturity in her faith and little knowledge of the Bible, I do not consult with my mom with anything too important other than asking her for prayers. I also usually tell her the details of the battle after the crisis has passed.
When you are going through fire and through high waters, it matters most who is praying for you and who is counseling you in the middle of the storm. Please make sure that these friends and mentors have demonstrated good faith, services and loyalty to the Lord. From my experience, the only way you know their spiritual fruit is by interacting and working with them for a long period of time when things are calm and boring.
Like there are no perfect marriages, there also are no perfect churches. You simply plant yourself in a church that God leads you to, and then you give and serve in there. I think I visited 4-5 local churches before settling on my church. It wasn’t me but the Holy Spirit who confirmed to me that this church is where I belong. There were several times in past 13 years when I wanted to move and plant elsewhere but God didn’t grant me His approval and peace. Church-hopping should not be common for the followers of Jesus Christ. Please be mindful of that and pray earnestly and carefully before you leave a church. In my opinion, you need to wait on the Lord for confirmations which he provides through the Bible, and sometimes through external signs (although in my experiences, the external signs were mainly for actions that required my obedience for something that I highly didn’t want to do. 😂).
Thank you for your prayers yesterday for my family members! God has demonstrated that he heard our prayers. God bless you abundantly!
Isaiah 43:2
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2043&version=NKJV;VOICE