God's Symphony

I'm sorry I wasn't able to attend YF today because of my brother's birthday but I have a praise item that I would like to share to readers of this blog.

Some months ago, I shared about my friend, Joreen, who was undergoing chemotherapy for her lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. At last mention, we were raising money for her to repay her debts due to her medical expenses. Praise the Lord cos he has provided twice of what her debt was and that she had managed to go on receiving more treatment from the doctors and nurses at SGH, national cancer center.

Unfortunately, Joreen did not respond well to the treatments that were to follow as one of the side effects caused her stomach to have ulcers which bled continuously, making it nearly impossible to eat, or pass motion. With her immune system at its weakest point, things seemed bleak and all that her friends and family could do were to pray for her.

But thankfully, God intervened. By placing people in her life, God managed to use this situation, to create something beautiful. Joreen accepted Christ in January, along with her entire family of her parents and 2 other younger brothers. Her boyfriend of 10 years also said the sinner's prayer and accepted Christ as his saviour. Praise the Lord indeed. In one move, God used Joreen to bring her ENTIRE family to Christ, and i believe this is something that most of us are trying really hard to do -- to reach out to our unsaved family members.

By this incident, I've seen with my own eyes, the invisible hand of God, orchestrating a symphony, using us in ways we will never realise until His work has been done. He used this story to demonstrate what unconditional love really is, both from within the family, and from the outside. And He also shows us that every subtle action of ours can impact others in ways we cannot imagine. It was from an sms that He urged me to send to Joreen that I got to know of her condition and also by putting others in Joreen's life, He managed to bring to her and her family salvation. He has also shown to me so many qualities that Joreen has which I find i lack and i really hope to improve on my character in near future. He is truly amazing.

Sadly though, He called Joreen back to be by His side earlier this week on the 28th of April and although it was very sad, He yet again showed us that we have hope even in death. I was initially very heart broken when i first heard of Joreen's passing. It came suddenly to me as only a month ago, her health seemed to be on the trail of recovery.

But i trust fully in Jesus. Yes, he has taken away a very close friend of mine, but at least i know in my heart that she's in a better place now, and moreover, she's with Jesus. That's the most important thing. 2 Tim 4:7 says "i have fought a good fight, i have finished my course, i have kept the faith." How aptly a verse to describe the attitude that Joreen carried with her even till her last breathe.

This incident had also brought many new people into contact with me and i'm hoping to be able to share God's word with them, through my blog and hopefully meeting them in the future. So do keep me in your prayers as well, that God uses me in whatever way He pleases. At the same time, keep PUSHing* on with our prayers to bring our family to know the God we love and never give up!

Gal 6:9 "let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

To know more about Joreen's case, do visit my blog at phderrick.blogspot.com



*PUSH = Pray Until Something Happens