Short Stories

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Tel-Aviv:

“Where are you? Are you coming to the worship service?”
“Rami, I am busy. My employer needs me! I will try and make other arrangements.”
“Ok! But please keep in touch and let me know how I can help! If you find that the work is getting in your way, trust God for another. Your soul is so important!”
“Yes brother, do not worry. I will be alright, I will make other arrangements!”

She was in her late thirties, the mother of two teenagers, and her life had been shattered by a man. He was working in a foreign Embassy. The glitter of ‘golden’ Embassy parties, walking with the recognized of Israeli society and generally being hailed as an ‘in’ woman had so turned her head that Lisa spun giddily into his open arms. Their love affair was fast, furious and fatal. When her new found ‘Love’ ended his tour of duty after some four years, he flew back home. Two weeks later, she found she could not contact him. He had changed his telephone number.

As she sat before me, tears streaming down her face and telling her story, I was once again reminded of the relevance of a certain biblical verse:

“Hear my cry. O God: attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry to You when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I (Psalm 61:1-2,NKJV).”

Lisa certainly needed the comfort of the Lord and leading to a Rock that was more stable than the one in whom she had placed her faith.

I try as much as possible, to see the ‘silver lining,’ in all bad situations. It is not always easy, but I concluded at that time, that if there was any ‘good’ at all in her predicament, it was that Lisa had been led right into my office where, as her friend suggested, she would find a sympathetic ear and counsel for all her troubles. After successive meetings she put the past behind and boldly took hold of a future in the Messiah.

As she began to attend prayer and worship meetings Lisa’s lifestyle improved considerable. I watched with a certain degree of fascination as God blessed her life. She quickly found a new job and through God’s great generosity, was given a beautiful bed donated by a medical student from America. Somehow the gift of this bed soften Lisa’s attitude towards the Lord. I suspected that her vision concerning the trustworthiness and integrity of the ‘male figure,’ had been somewhat damaged by her prior experiences. Lisa had so wanted a new bed, but could not afford the price. Her money had been spent on the ‘boy friend.’ This mahogany bed with a near new mattress, emphasized in a personal way that God cared, and He cared for her.

Lisa made good progress in her newly found spiritual walk until, she found a different job. It was a good job, but it meant she would have to work extra hours. Those hours took her away from fellowship. I called as often as I could, to make sure she continued in her faith journey. But the moment I so prayed would never materialize, suddenly confronted me. I dialed her number one more time. There was no response!

Sometime in my past, and I am not exactly sure of the moment, I acquired a faulty and dangerous impression that God, was a very hard and harsh taskmaster. He was just ‘itching’ to get His ‘pound of flesh,’ for every fault of ours. This was the impression certain theological commentators passed onto me, in my reading of their unfortunate interpretation of the acts of the God of the Old Testament. Deeper mediation on the bible and in particular the story of Iyonah, radically shifted my thinking. I was confronted with Iyonah’s astonishing reaction to the Lord’s response after the bad, bad people of Nineveh had repented and been spared sudden destruction.

Hear what Iyonah (Jonah) argues:
“O Lord was this not my saying, when I was in my own country? Therefore I fled to Tarshish: FOR I KNEW THAT THOU ART A GRACIOUS GOD, AND MERCIFUL, SLOW TO ANGER, AND OF GREAT KINDNESS, AND REPENTEST THEE OF THE EVIL” (Iyonah 4:2; KJV. Caps mine).

Notice the words; ‘great kindness’, ‘gracious’ and ‘merciful!’ This was not the kind of language I was used to hearing or reflecting upon when I considered the acts of the Lord! I thought… Well, you know what I thought. But I have to admit, I was wrong. And to make matters worse my distorted and biased view of the Lord’s nature, was given ample support by my limited education in the field of Law which referred to certain natural disasters as ‘Acts of God’ Very unfortunate! As though God is in the ‘habit’ of dispensing destruction whenever it suits His fancy. However, it is not my intention to preach to you but I do hope this story will give you some sense, a real sense as to how woefully inadequate my understanding of God had been...

They brought them by the truck load. I watched somewhat amused as different shapes and sizes of diapers were off loaded. It seemed to me, as though the Lord was expecting a bumper harvest of Israel babies. Perhaps, some couples had become extremely busy in their bedrooms! The workers told jokes as they placed package after package, on the cold but clean floor of the distribution center; jokes about the number of wives and children I possibly had. Yes, Israelis can at times be hilarious!

I was too mystified to really care. I was wondering who the Lord loved so much that He had brought in such an abundance of material, to be freely given. God works in marvelous and mysterious ways. My job as I eventually learnt, was to be as silent and as obedient as a sheep; God’s sheep with Yeshua as the Shepherd. Then, when I humble myself, He will eventually let me in on His brilliant and gracious ways.

A few days ago I bought a Ghanaian newspaper. The headlines were, well not exactly the kind of news you would want to read while eating breakfast. Neighbours recently found, and forgive me for shocking you, a six month old aborted baby lying in a gutter. The community living in the vicinity of this horrible crime, was understandably outraged and the nation as a whole appalled by a heartless attitude that had conceived such a misdeed. Many reasons have been offered. Perhaps, the mother was under intense financial pressure and could not bare the thought of raising a child in these days of economic turmoil. Perhaps she experienced abuse at the hands of some irresponsible man. Perhaps she thought, she would not be able to afford diapers!

When my mobile phone rang that day in Tel-Aviv, I was not prepared for the voice I heard at the end of the line: It had been a long, long time.

“Lisa! I exclaimed. How wonderful! Where are you? Is everything alright? ” At last she had broken the ‘famine’ of communication. I sat down as she narrated certain happenings in her life. She began to conclude.

“Please forgive me. My life is in a mess and I couldn’t forget the help you gave me in the past. I am suffering and I need to talk to someone. You are the only one I feel I can turn to right now. I feel so ashamed!”

“That’s alright sister, I’m glad you called. How can I be of help?” The compassion of Christ was overriding.

“Rami, I am so ashamed, so embarrassed. How can I tell you this..? I don’t have enough food to eat, let alone feed my babies!”

“What? Am I hearing you correctly?” I shouted rather nervously and rudely. “You have babies?”

I apologise! By this time I had assimilated somethings of Israeli culture which may not be so familiar to those from other cultural backgrounds. Lisa fell silent, but I could hear her whispered gasps through the earpiece. She had fallen in love with another man with results to show. He also walked out on her.

“Yes brother, twins!” she now replied in tearful response to my query. “How am I going to look after them? I cannot…” She paused. “I cannot even buy diapers!”

I stared at the stacks piled high in front of me. Diapers had never before looked so golden. Someone certainly loved babies! But then, I should have known all along. He is gracious, merciful and of infinite kindness! That’s the God we serve. Blessings!

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