Heb. 6:19 calls HOPE “an anchor of the soul.
Oh, how HOPE keeps us from drifting! When I heard the news about Aldo’s fall after a wonderful weekend in God’s presence, I felt how HOPE kept me stable. It was my anchor when I knew I was about to face unpredictable weather.
It was so quiet in my spirit, but HOPE kept me connected and braided together with God so that I did not feel lost in the situation. I looked up and saw the throne; God was not moved at all. He was on the throne and in control of the situation. Our anchor to the throne was like an umbilical cord. That is our HOPE in this world. Even though I felt the pain of my child being hurt and many thoughts went flying in and out of my mind (like stop ministering and then the enemy will stop hurting Aldo), I was always anchored to the throne. On the plane back to Gauteng I read Isaiah 40: 31 “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”
HOPING in God - being anchored and knitted to Him - brings renewed strength to run life’s race without becoming weary and lets you soar above adversity.
When I first saw Aldo late that Sunday evening in the ICU of a Pretoria hospital, all the bad memories of the car accident came flooding back. Josh was so traumatised; and he clung to me the whole time. He saw Aldo fall from the balcony and thought he was dead.
Yes, it is soooo painful to see your child in pain. Yet my spirit rejoices in God! God is on the throne and He is no man that He can lie. He is faithful, He will finish what He started... and so all His characteristics run through my mind. Just because I know who my God is, my spirit can rejoice regardless of the pain of my mother heart.
I look at Tinus who is crying and crying, and how I yearn to spare all of us the pain. Then suddenly the truth of “God turns all the bad around for His glory” makes me lift my head again. How different my life has become since I have come to love God, and to know that He is the same God of yesterday, today and forever. By now I have learnt that the enemy cannot touch our spirits.
Back in the ICU, I realized that nothing has changed. You still need to fight for your child. I did not want Aldo to wait any longer than he had to for the operation in his mouth, so I pushed to get it done by Monday. His mouth was complete crushed on the inside - you cannot imagine what that looked like! He had been laying in the ICU from 12 am Sunday morning, and went into the operating room on Monday night, 20h00, and only came out at 23h00. His mouth was reconstructed with steel plates, and he lost three teeth. During the night he struggled to sleep with all the pain, but Tinus was right there next to him every night and I was at his side during in the day. The operation was excellently done! We had so much favour, because God sent a Professor who is one of the best orthodontic surgeons to operate. There is still much reconstruction to be done to his mouth on the inside, but it is a miracle that he hit the railing with his mouth and not his head.
After many x-rays, they found that his neck did not get hurt at all. Tinus saw him fall, and kept on saying to me in shock, “His neck was supposed to be broken.”
He could have been dead considering the way he fell. If his mouth did not hit the wooden railing he would have fallen another 6 meters. In all of this we see God’s grace!
Later, Aldo wrote how the enemy pushed him but how the angels protected and helped him.
For the seen world (in the natural), his balance isn’t good – and failed him.
For the unseen (the supernatural) – there is a battle raging and we won’t give up!
(Aldo's Letter: They were a lot, and they pushed me off the balcony. When he pushed me, the angel saw it.)
During all this bad, I still see God’s hand working things together for our good. I can see how this tragedy made Tinus finally give control over completely. It is more difficult for men (I think) to totally surrender all. It is an amazing sight to see how his hands are free now, and therefore he is free indeed! A soft gentle Tinus said to me – “Retha, God is so faithful. I cannot do for Aldo what God can. I just want to love him and give him to God.”
I look at Aldo and see the miracle in front of me. While lying in the hospital he was soon back to his old self and read his Bible and thanked God day in and day out. The two girls who live next door to us saw the whole thing happen, and they ran out and held him in all that blood until the ambulance came. He kept on thanking God for them. While in the hospital he wrote, “Mom can you see how many people prayed for me?” And he thanked God for hours for all of you. That is the result of prayer! The situation was extremely bad, but from the moment it happened – people PRAYED! Many of my wonderful friends went into spiritual warfare for our family, to protect us with prayer and the Word of God from the enemy. And every night when I came home I saw all the e-mails of people who pray for us. Thank you, thank you, and thank you! I know that all your prayers are so powerful! For the God of peace will soon crush Satan, He will crush Him underneath our feet! (Romans 16:20)
Aldo wrote while in hospital in my little note pad – “Life is a gift from God.” Yes, and every breath and every new day is GRACE! Late on Tuesday evening, Josh and I were spending some quiet time with Jesus, and the next thing I hear Aldo at the door. What! Josh and I jumped up and screamed with joy!
Tinus begged the doctor to release Aldo, and when the doctor didn’t want to give in, he bravely said “A patient without a drip on is healthy,” and the doctor had to agree to release Aldo. Well, here we all are - back under one roof! What a wonderful feeling. We all slept in our room. Aldo had a bad night so we were all up for most of the night, but no one complained! Josh said in the middle of the night, “Anoint him Mom, and you will see that he will quickly go to sleep.” He had a lot of pain, and also the shock of the fall to deal with. He kept on rebuking the works of the enemy out loud, but there is nothing that Jesus’ blood cannot overcome!
From the bottom of my heart I want to thank everyone for your prayers, your e-mails, your love, and your trust in God. We believe in what He said: That what He started, He will finish!
God knows that His way is always the best way, and His timing is always perfect! That is why He refuses to accept our hope-deferred inspired Ishmaels. He wants a supernatural element in our destinies that will keep us dependant on Him - that is why He gives us destinies that rise above anything we could possibly produce on our own. This is grace on God’s part. Don’t settle for a natural inheritance when you can have a supernatural one.
(Aldo's Letter: Do I look bad?He loves me a lot. God says He will finish what He started. The demons are gone because you prayed.)
Every day is a fresh beginning, and the future is radiant with the grace of God shining down on us.
Remember – this is a journey. Run it with HOPE!
Keep on speaking life in every situation, and enjoy life!
Retha
"But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." Acts 20:24