He Knows

The Lord is indeed all knowing, even about things yet to happen. He has recently impressed upon my heart the fact that He often makes use of this knowledge to our advantage and for our good. God is for us. As His children, we can have the assurance that nothing ever caught our heavenly Father off guard, so we should never be fazed by any circumstance cropped up in our lives.

Last Wednesday I was supposed to have an appointment in Kuala Lumpur. I had taken leave from work so as to be able to make the trip, a two and a-half hour’s drive from Ipoh. However, last Tuesday afternoon the other party informed me that he would be coming to Ipoh instead so we could meet up here. I was happy not needing to make a distant trip, and thank the Lord for it. But that was only half the story.  Evening came and I found my body less than agreeable, its usual complaint flaring up in gastric pain coupled with throbbing headache just as whenever I am stressed out or overworked. My wife noted that I have of late worked too late into the night and slept too little because of my blog. So I retired very early at 8pm on Tuesday evening and woke up some twelve hours later. Because I didn’t have to go back to office I slept again after a light breakfast until noon. So I effectively put in some sixteen hours of sleep. The headache was gone and I felt real good when I met up with my friend after lunch. Looking back it would have been quite impossible for me to drive to K.L. and back that same day under the condition. I would have to start my journey at six in the morning to meet the appointment. But the Lord knew about my condition and arranged for a change in venue. He took care of the need of my body even before I realized there was a need. How good is my God!

There’s more to it.  On Tuesday morning a brother in our MMG informed me that his father had passed away and the family would be holding wake services on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. He took the trouble to personally text me on the phone to inform me, and I replied that I would be there. I was knocked out on Tuesday so I had to go on Wednesday. Again I don’t think it was possible for me to make it had I been to K.L. that day. It was truly amazing the way the Lord had put things together. I pondered about it on my way to the wake service giving thanks to the Lord in my heart, little did I suspect I was about to hear Him speak even more clearly about the very issue He had me thinking about.

At the end of the wake service, our brother gave a testimony of his father. In his own words he said he was “revealing a secret of his father”. Knowing our brother to be a pragmatist I gathered it must be something worth saying and profitable for us to hear. Indeed it was not only encouraging; it’s one of the most amazing testimonies that attest to the assurance of our eternal destiny that you will ever hear. This is the “secret”: prior to his death, the old man knew he was departing and was able to tell our brother the exact date he was going back to the Lord!

Before the recently concluded Chinese New Year, our brother and his wife visited his old man one day. During the visit his old man told them that he would pass on after the Chinese New Year, on the nineteenth. They were of course shocked to hear him pronounce the date of departure but they kept it in their hearts and pondered over it. As you know the first day of the Chinese (Lunar) New Year fell on the 3^rd of February this year. So they were counting the days until and pass the 19^th of February but the old man was alright. They were then able to let down their guard, but not for long. For in the early morning of the 22^nd of February at 5.30am it did happen: the old man breathed his last and went back to be with the Lord.  It was still close, our brother thought, only a difference of three days. But on retrospect, he checked the calendar and found the time to be just a few hours after the nineteenth of the first month of the lunar calendar! So that was what the old man meant, and he got it spot on!   

The Lord knew. He told the old man. The old man told his son. He spoke of a bearded man who visited him often in his last days. Who knows, our brother reasoned, it could be Jesus who came to lead him home. How good Jesus is! He prepared the old man and He prepared his children. When our brother spoke, it was with perfect assurance that his father is with the Lord. And he knows they will one day meet again.