“You go on ahead, I’ll be right behind you.” This was the third day in a row I had walked the extra mile especially to see him to be sure he was going to come hear the teaching (in the village where we are laying foundations to present the Gospel). This was the third day he guaranteed he would be there. This was the third day he had gone against his word. To my face he had been cordial and had said there were no problems. But there had to be. He had come faithfully everyday for two months and was usually the first one there, then suddenly he stopped coming. That’s when others began to fill me in that he had not agreed with some things in the God’s Word because they were contrary to what he had traditionally believed. He was believing the lie of self-righteousness to get to God. That’s to be expected.
“Another fight broke out yesterday afternoon,” someone informed me. The location was right across the road from where we teach. The issue involved only one family, but the whole community was talking about it and spreading rumors. Property had been destroyed and now souls were in danger. Not only had this pulled some of the family away from the teaching it had also distracting others who were not even involved. That’s to be expected.
“Don’t worry I am not asking many people to help, only 2, or I guess 4, well.not too many, but the job is important.” One of the big men had started a house project in another area and had hired some of the men who had been coming to the teaching to go and help him with the project. He was very supportive of us teaching God’s Word to the Patpatar and had told us how much he wanted to hear the truth as well, but busyness had stolen him away and was now stealing others away. That’s to be expected.
That’s to be expected because Satan does not want the Patpatar to have the chance to hear and know the truth. This coming week we will be presenting the Gospel. After several weeks of teaching through the Bible about the holiness of God, the separation of man from God because of sin, and the coming of Jesus the promised redeemer, we will now be teaching on His death, burial, and resurrection by which we can be accepted by God once again through faith. Satan however, wants the Patpatar to believe lies, to be destroyed, and to be stolen away. John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” We can expect a fight from the enemy; we can expect distractions. But that is not the end of the verse.
Jesus said, in the rest of John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Praise God that He is a God of the unexpected. The almighty God became helpless babe. The perfect God loved imperfect man. The holy God died for sinful men. He gave sight to the blind, strength to the weak, and life to the dead. He desires to spend eternity with you, with me, and with the Patpatar people. He wants none of them to perish, but all of them to have a chance to hear and accept the Gospel message.
Pray this week with us to the God of the unexpected. We expected people would disagree with God’s truth and not want to come, but He is the God of the unexpected. We expected situations would come up to destroy people or to destroy the work of the Lord, but He is a God of the unexpected. We expected distractions to come that would steal people away, but He is the God of the unexpected. Pray for those who have been pulled away. Pray for the many who are still attending faithfully and are excited about the truth. Pray for us as we present the Gospel. Tuesday and Wednesday (U.S. time) this week, we will be teaching about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.
To Him that is able to do more than we can ever ask or imagine, Aaron
[…] That’s to be Expected […]