All Things for Good

We are told in Romans 8:28 “that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” But do we really believe it? In 2 Kings 20, we read the story of Hezekiah's illness, and the Lord's miraculous healing. We also read of Hezekiah's visitors from Babylon, who came to find out the reason that the sun had moved backward. Unfortunately, instead of telling his visitors about the one true God, Hezekiah showed them all his treasure, and received a rebuke from the Lord through the prophet Isaiah. Even today, the Lord sometimes chooses to use illness as a way of bringing people into contact with truth that otherwise might have never heard it. At the beginning of February, one of our girls, Rita, was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. When we tried to admit her to the government-run specialized clinic, they refused to take her. Finally, a small hospital not far from the school agreed to take her. At first, I wondered why the Lord had allowed the government hospital to refuse her, when she needed their specialized care. However, the Lord had a bigger plan, as usual. Tabitha, the girl who had brought Rita's health issues to my attention, spent quite a bit of time with me visiting Rita in the hospital. The nurses and nurses' aids began to ask Tabitha many questions after the first few days. They were hesitant at first, but when they realized that we were not bothered by their curiosity and had no intention of forcing our religion on anyone, they became bolder to ask deeper questions. “Why do your teachers take such good care of you? Are they always kind and loving? Do you have an idol of your Jesus that you pray to? Why do you not eat meat? Why do you not have a boyfriend? Why do you not wear jewelry? Why will you not eat the rice that was offered to the idols? What is the Sabbath and why do you observe it like this?” As the ladies listened, Tabitha explained about the teachings of the Bible on those topics. Several of them wanted to read the Bible. Another day, one of the nurses asked me what made me so kind and loving to my students. I replied that I wasn't naturally a kind and loving person, but had always been a selfish, angry girl, until I gave my heart to Jesus and let Him change me. The next question was: “How do you give your heart to Jesus? What did you have to do?” I almost cried as I thought of these sincere Hindu women who knew nothing of the peace and joy and love of God. Oh, how eager they were to receive the Bengali Bibles and tracts we brought for them! We invited them to come to church, and several promised to come visit. The Sabbath after we brought Rita home from the hospital, two of those nurses came to church. They loved the fellowship, and promised to come again and bring their friends, too. Yes, God had a plan. He knew that there were souls hungering for the Bread of Life in that little hospital. As I thought about it later, I realized that God could have healed Rita anywhere, but He wanted to show those particular nurses a special picture of His own love. I was reminded of the old song “Tell It Again,” which tells the story of the gospel being shared with a dying gypsy boy. The chorus pleads, “Tell it again! Tell it again! Salvation's story repeat o'er and o'er, till none can say of the children of men, 'Nobody ever has told me before.'” Look around you – who can you tell salvation's story to today? Never assume that someone has heard it before. “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:37, 38) And yes, Rita is on the mend and doing well.