In the Hands of God

Sometimes it's hard to accept reality. We often want circumstances to work out the way we see fit. The issue with that is we still have a fallen nature that can be selfish, and our understanding of reality is finite, whereas God's is infinite. As Isaiah 57:1 says, "The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil." Our minds would never want to accept ill-fated circumstances that we would feel are cutting someone's life short, but the truth is, we don't understand everything.

Pastor Som Art, FCOP's pastor of our capital city Phnom Penh based church, received a phone call to go pray for one of the students of the same school (Home of English) that had bought rice from us. The student had been in a severe motor-bike accident while riding with his parents.  Unfortunately, the 11 year old boy suffered the worst of the injuries and was in a coma. Steve, the founder of the school, had heard of the accident and was visiting the boy when he offered to the parents to have others come and pray for their son. The Buddhist believing parents, who would normally be reluctant to associate with another religious deity out of fear of losing blessing or bringing curses on their life, were desperate and welcomed any and all. As Steve got in touch with Pastor Som Art, he immediately gathered a few leaders and went to be with the family. With no hope for a recovery, the boy had been discharged from the hospital and sent home with his family.  As Pastor Som Art arrived, he spent time with the family and prayed for the young boy... nothing seemed to change.  Then, Pastor Som Art felt led by the Holy Spirit to change his prayer from one of healing to a prayer for salvation.  As Pastor Som Art prayed, he started speaking to the boy as if he was having a conversation. He said to the boy, "If you can hear me, I want you to pray with me." Pastor Som Art led the boy in a prayer of salvation. As he closed the prayer, everybody noticed tears coming down the boy's face. Now, there is no way cognitively to have proof of what went on in the boy's mind, but as we have faith in God and trust the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us, we believe that boy had an encounter with God. He died shortly thereafter and we believe he is with Jesus, and God is still good.

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