God, my Protector

Initially I had decided not to share this testimony simply because what seemed as God’s sovereignty to me, was belittled by those around me. What bewildered me and made me aware of God’s protection was a matter of causality and time to others. I will declare the goodness of the Lord- and He has given me a pen and a paper to do so. It is my greatest desire for my generation and the generations to come to know God through the experiences of those who truly believe.

Last semester I stayed at the outside room in our commune. It only came to my attention how for many months my moves were being observed. One morning as I sat by my laptop preparing for the day’s events I was shocked to see two men peeping through my window. These guys looked scary!!! I shut my windows, locked my room, and with the remote shut the gate which was slightly open. As they moved towards the gate they slid it to the side- apparently it could’ve opened effortlessly but it didn’t this time. They came to my window where I fearfully watched, and pleaded with me to let them out by claiming that they were busy doing the “garden” in the yard. Because I was not thinking straight, I mean there were no garden tools and those men didn’t even look like garden men, but it’s their scary faces that caused me to be overcome by fear… I opened for them.

Time passes…

One morning just after leaving my room to go shower inside the house, the cleaning lady kept asking me if I left somebody in my room because she could hear from the kitchen my wardrobes being banged. I’m singing in the shower thinking “there she goes again with her hallucinations-old people!” She kept knocking on the shower door telling me that there is somebody in my room, and I’m just thinking, if you think there’s someone in my room and I’m telling you there’s no one and I locked my door, why don’t you just go checking for yourself! So she’s making a scene, locking doors, shutting windows, and only when she exclaimed that the gate is opened did I get out of the shower. The gate was indeed open and to my greatest shock I saw the same two men banging on my door trying to open it- apparently these doors open so easily once you have the proper tools! So I closed the gate again hoping to have trapped them. Like the previous time they walked to the gate, pulled it, and this time it opened! I was so shocked because I thought these remote gates were reliable. Jaw-dropped, totally in shock as I watched as they left the yard and after a while one more guy followed from hiding behind my room. By this time I am totally convinced that all my valuable possessions are gone since there was “banging of my wardrobes”. It was impossible attempting to open the door which was fiddled with, so I had to call the cops to help in that regard. I honestly believe that it was my Lord who kept the door from opening so that the criminals couldn’t enter because when I finally entered into my room everything was intact. The only banging that the cleaning lady heard was from my door not from the inside.

So, I decided to move inside the house which helped in decreasing my anxiety and paranoia because it felt much safer with everyone around. The event is forgotten, life is good, and everything seems to be going well. A few days back while happily enjoying my life on campus I get a text from one of my housemates telling me that the house was broken into again and only my room and the guy’s next door’s room were opened- so their targets were in place. As I read that message I thought to myself that clearly God has a way of “breaking” His servants and nothing takes place in a believer’s life which is not filtered through His loving hands. I decided to make peace with the fact that my laptop, my phones and all valuable stuff have been stolen, it’s not a big deal- my Father will provide. Though disappointed the peace of God rested heavily upon me as I walked back to my place. Wide-opened door, wide-opened wardrobes, over turned duvet- I just flipped my pillows over where I hid my laptop earlier to confirm my suspicions. And to my surprise- my laptop was still there. Now this doesn’t make sense because from the guy next door five thousand rand was stolen- sneakers, jackets, laptop and who knows what, but from my room nothing was taken. My phones were in the opened wardrobe just near the surface where they could have been easily detected. I felt bad for the guy but I was also overjoyed in the Lord for revealing His faithfulness to me. Psalm 91 states, “Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you say, “The Lord is my refuge”, and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. The promises of God are true and they come with a condition- make the Lord your El-Shaddai and He promises to watch over you, He has proven to be faithful in all these instances. When I was afraid of these criminals who just rock up as they wish and take our belongings the spirit of God helped me focus on God’s promises. Psalm 21 says, “The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm- he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore”.

I’ve always thought that going through bad stuff and not having the Lord come through for me was a way for me to reveal my spiritual maturity. I have made peace with the fact that as long as I am in this world tribulations are my lot while peace is my legacy. I thought that just like Job the devil would have to harass me and the only time I would ever experience peace fully was the day I get to meet Jesus face to face. Now the problem with this whole mentality is that circumstances were focused on me, not on the Sovereign Lord. I thought I had figured out His ways and His dealings with me, but He showed me by protecting my possessions that He delights in taking care after me- I don’t have to conclude how He deals with me. Miracles didn’t only happen for David, Daniel, Hezekiah and the likes- they also happen in our lives and let’s not take them for granted. Nothing happens by luck God intently watches over those who acknowledge His name and everyone around will see it.

Praying for the salvation of the criminals…

I used to be so fearful that I had to sleep with my bed on the door, but I'm not scared anymore because I know that my Father looks after me. I'm no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God!