StanleyOnBible Letter No 207 - 1 August 2024
R. Stanley
Online Letter 207 1 August 2024 Dear Online Friend(s), Days seem to run faster than ever before! Already seven months are over in this “New Year” 2024! The admonition of Apostle Paul to the Ephesian believers while waking them up is quite relevant to each of us today: “Awake, you who sleep, … See then that you walk carefully, not as fools but as wise redeeming the TIME, because the DAYS are evil” (Eph 5:14-16). I have faced tragedies both in my life and family and in the lives of our dear ones so many times during my ministerial years since 1971. The one thing I’ve consistently observed is so pointedly stated in Psalm 30:5b, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!” The most recent very sad happening is the road accident one of my dear friends, Britto (64), faced on the morning of 22 June 2024 in Pondicherry. Following a 3-day unconscious state due to head injury in the Critical Care Unit he passed away peacefully on the third day leaving behind his wife, a married son and a college-going son. Hailing from a Roman Catholic background, he was an ardent student of the Scripture and an aggressive soulwinner for Christ. Though I spoke a few words of comfort to the family and relatives on the 23rd forenoon, my heart was churning within me while returning to Vellore the same day. While “Why” questions were bombarding my head and heart, the one word that surfaced to silence my mind was “ALMIGHTY.” Next early morning I looked for this word in my Cruden’s Concordance. To my utter surprise, this word occurs 31 times in the Book of Job alone whereas only the remaining 25 occurrences are spread over the remaining 65 Books of the Bible! Oh my, I now have got the key to unlock the mysteries of inexplainable happenings in the lives of God’s people! After pondering over this truth for nearly a month, I sat down to write an Article on it on the 23rd July. The outcome is attached herewith. Take ample time to meditate on each of the verses. Surprisingly, when I completed the writing, Lizzy Britto rang up to say that a month has passed since his Homecall! Regards. With you,
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