Short Stories

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Tel-Aviv.

A beautiful mother and her equally beautiful child, stood side by side, on Neveh Shannan Street as the crowd passed noisily by. Mrs Tembi Larbi, smiled broadly. Her smile was infectious. Her daughter stared intently into my face. She was about four years of age.

“Hello,” I said, shaking hands. “How are you and the family?”

“God is so good!”

“And your husband, Nick?”

“He’s doing well. He’s attending meetings at the moment.”

Mrs Larbi, turned to the child. “Do you know who this is?”

“No!” the child replied.

“This is your father!” she exclaimed.

I shifted somewhat uncomfortably, and nervously looked around. I would have to do some major damage control if, certain people had overheard this conversation. They might think that ‘Pastor’ had some past secret love affair and the result was now standing in the open for all to see. This was certainly not the type of image I wanted to project. ‘Dear Lord,’ I thought. ‘Please help me to prepare messages on ‘speaking the truth in love!’’

I had not seen Mrs Tembi Larbi, for some two years. We had first met under trying circumstances. She began to narrate the story to her attentive daughter. The little one’s big, brown eyes, grew wide as she listened.

Pardess Katz Neighbourhood.

I stepped of the blue and white ‘Dan’ bus in Ramat Gan near the Ramat Gan Kanion (Shopping Mall). I was tired and hungry. Food was uppermost on my mind, as I briskly walked the distance to my apartment. A male voice called out. I stopped and turned around. It was Nick.

”Hi!” he said, catching up with me. We walked side by side chatting. I had been the best man at Nick’s wedding. It was an interesting moment. At least the trip to Yerushalyim (Jerusalem) had been eventful. Nick and Tembi, decided to marry in the ’City of God.’ We needed a private car so, we hired one from a car rental agency. On the eventful day, five of us travelled to Yerushalyim. Four of us were non-drivers, so we asked a mutual friend, John to drive us. He showed us his driving license. It was written in French. None of us, could read French.

“Oh! Do not worry,” John assured us, ” I will drive you safely. Trust me!” John hailed from the West African nation of Togo. French was the officially spoken language. Each of us had arrived in Israel via different routes and for different purposes, and now found ourselves living in Pardess Katz.

When we arrived in Jerusalem, we drove along Yafo Street. We passed the famous Mahane Yehuda market stopping from time to time, to ask directions to the Narkis Church, where the wedding was to be held. John made a wrong turn, and we found ourselves driving the wrong way up, a one way street. Panic set in, as he tried to set the matter right. Car horns blared, and drivers cursed, as our car swayed first this way, then that. The noise pushed the ‘fright level’ up a few notches, and we would have had a terrible accident, had I not taken control of the situation, by shouting at the top of my voice, for all in the car to stop issuing directions at the same time. I ordered John not to pay attention to the blaring horns and stop the car. We slowly extricated ourselves from the traffic jam that had been created.

I was quite concerned because John’s reaction, had not been one of an experienced driver. When we arrived back in Tel-Aviv, I heaved a huge sigh of relief. Some months later, he confessed that he had little previous experience at driving, and his driver’s license had actually expired. I was very upset because we had been stopped by a traffic warden. He had let us off lightly; he could not read the French writing on the license. We had a narrow escape! All this was brought up for discussion, as I walked besides Nick.

“How’s your wife?” I finally asked.

“She’s fine.” He then invited me to visit his house, urging me to say a quick hello.

Minutes later, we stood outside the front door of his rented home. It was on the ground floor of a two storey block of apartments. His, was a two room apartment. Household items clustered the small lounge. His wife was nowhere to be seen.

“Tembi” he called out, “ You have a visitor!”

She appeared out of the cramped bedroom, wearing a large sized dress that covered her large body. Tembi was pregnant.

“How are you Tembi? I understand you are doing well.”

She muttered something under her breath and sat down opposite me on a couch. We made some small talk.I finally turned to Nick.

“ It’s really good to see you so well. I will not take up any more of your time.” My stomach, was beginning to grumble.

Suddenly, Tembi’s countenance changed. She began to cry, “Nothing is well!” she said, between sobs. I was taken aback. “Nothing is Ok!” she repeated. “We went to the hospital. I’m over nine months and the baby was due for delivery last week. The doctors want to perform a Caesarean operation. The operation will be so expensive; over 5000 shekels (about $1000) and we just do not have the money. What will we do?”

For some months, I had been reading more of the Bible; the whole bible. I mean the Tanach and the Brit Hadasha (Old and New testaments). I had also been praying. I understand that God prepares us carefully for certain eventualities. Nothing unusual had happen in my messianic experience up to this point. But I decided to spend more time praying and reading the Word. I have subsequently found out, the Lord enables us to experience these periods of waiting, building us up and preparing us to face some challenge which He wants addressed. When nothing seems to be happening, we need to spend the time wisely, studying the Word and in prayer. Then, one or two things can happen. Either the Lord will encourage us to embark on a work; for example, an evangelistic event. Or, He will lead us into a situation in which He will help us, ‘turn the tables’ on trouble and confusion. We need to be patient with the LORD!

I waited while Tembi wiped away her tears. Then I comforted her using passages I had been reading from the Holy Scriptures. If I remember correctly, Psalm 84 verse 11 was one of these. Those who understand the intentions of the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, have marvellous facts at their disposal. God sent Yeshua, His Word, into this world. Yeshua took upon Him the form of man. He lived amongst us, and showed us how to serve God in Spirit and truth. Through His actions, He revealed to us the immense compassion of the Lord by healing, and bringing emotional and spiritual stability to those, who accepted Him for who he claimed to be.
After pouring out His heart, He went to the ‘tree’ (Cross). He poured out His blood; giving His life for us. Isaiah the Prophet, informs us that Yeshua’s death accomplished a number of things (ref: Isaiah 53). He faced the eternal wrath of God for each of us, experiencing in and upon himself the punishment we deserved for our sins and wrongdoing. He carried our sicknesses and sins with him to the cross and the wounds he received, have gained us healing. God, laid upon Him, the iniquity of us all. He became our substitute.

The bible assures us, that this sacrifice has bought for us forgiveness of sin and right standing with God. Yeshua died and our sin died with Him. But He rose from the dead, triumphant over the power of sin, death and Satan. All who receive Him into their hearts by faith, will find that they will have power over sin and Satan and though they die in this world, they will for sure rise again. In Him, death has lost its power to keep us eternally. Yeshua offers each of us forgiveness of sins, eternal life and right standing with God. All this is a gift which comes to us, when we simply accept by faith the written record of what He did for us and enthrone him as the Lord of our lives.

The bible declares, ‘If you confess with your mouth the Lord Yeshua and believe in your that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’ (Romans 10:9-10 NKJV). The bible also says, ‘Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord (Yeshua) shall be delivered’ (Joel 2:28-32; HB 3:1-3). We can call upon Him right now, and He will deliver us from the power and punishment of sin, death and satan and grant us eternal life.

One of the great benefits of appropriating the sacrifice of Yeshua in substitution, is that God counts us as ‘righteous.’ Please read these next words very carefully.

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the Law is revealed, being witnessed by the Torah and Neviim (Law and Prophets), even the righteousness of God, through faith in Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus Christ), TO ALL AND UPON ALL (italics mine), who believe (Romans 3; 21-22).

Understanding these words, can have potentially life changing consequences. I was thrilled to find out, that upon repentance, I am counted as ‘righteous’ before God, I can substitute my name in places in the bible where, the word ‘Righteous’ or a derivative word is used. A fascinating bible study unfolds.

Psalm 84 declares, that God will not withhold any ‘good thing’ from those ‘who walk uprightly’ with Him (ref: verse 11). We have only to appropriate the righteousness of God which is a gift to be received by faith, and each of us can experience all the benefits of righteousness recorded in the Bible. It’s simply fantastic!

Applying this dynamic knowledge to the situation I was now facing, I urged Tembi to get right with God by acknowledging any known wrongdoing, and accepting His forgiveness with thanksgiving. I then read aloud Psalm 84. We claimed the promise of righteousness in Yeshua, and prayed for the speedy and safe delivery of the child. We prayed for some twenty minutes or so.
Once the affair had been committed into the hands of the Lord, I felt it was time to leave. There were sighs of relief, as the Lord’s presence was felt throughout the home. His Peace that surpasses all understanding had arrived!

I was very busy for some weeks. When we finally met, the couple told me the astonishing story. Shortly after our prayer time, the baby began to kick and was safely delivered. Nick and Tembi were delighted, calling the child their ‘miracle baby.’ I breathed a sigh of relief; the Lord had come through at their hour of need.

Now, years later, Tembi was narrating the story to the child. She concluded:

“I call him your father, because he joined us in praying for you to come into this world!”

I watched as mother and daughter, walked happily down the pedestrian walkway called Neve Shannan! I sighed once again. This time with a complete sense of satisfaction!

May you experience the same! May the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you peace! Blessings!

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