My friend shared this testimony of her friend’s father’s salvation which I felt was very encouraging to all believers whose family members have not been saved as well as a reminder to continue reaching out to them. I will name her friend Sharon here.
Sharon was serving full time in her church ministry. She is a Malaysian but has been working in Singapore for a long time. Not long ago, her dad fell sick. He was suffering from cancer and that was then when Sharon decided to take a no pay leave to return back to Malaysia to care for her father. As a trained nurse, she felt that she could take care of him and it was her duty to do so as a daughter. For 9 months, she saw the gradual deterioration of her father’s health and for the 9 months, she fed, washed and clothed him unceasingly with love. One of her greatest desire is to see her father receive God’s salvation. Her father was strong willed and stubborn. Despite all the years of reaching out to him, her father never accepted Christ. There was a point in time when the father even told her that even if he is going to die, he will not acknowledge Jesus as his God. However with this sickness hitting him hard this time, Sharon was more than determined to see her father accept God’s salvation before he dies. She told God that if He could change King Nebuchadnezzar, He could change her father. And by God’s grace, her father accepted Jesus finally.
One day, Sharon was washing her father and scrubbing his back as what she had been doing all for the past 9 months. And then she gently asked her father, “Dad, you want to accept Jesus as your God?” To her utter amazement, her father replied, “Yes.” She could not believe it. In fact after leading her father in the salvation prayer, she still doubted because she thought her father might be in a state of semi conscious under medication.
It was then later some of her relatives visited her father. She told them that her father has accepted Christ. This group of relatives was elated! In fact they have been praying for her dad all these while. “Did you really receive Christ?” one of them asked. “Yes I did. I only believe Jesus and no other gods,” her father replied. Sharon was swept away by her father’s reply as this was a confirmation God is showing her. Praise God.
A while later, Sharon knew that her father’s time to go home to the Lord was near. One night she felt impressed in her heart to sing the song “So you would come” by Hillsong to her father. In fact a friend of hers emailed her the lyrics of this song for her to sing to her father a week ago. Finally that night, she sang the song to her father while he was lying on his bed. Her father was in pain and could not sleep. She sang once, and then the second time, and then the third time. She just kept singing because it seemed like the Holy Spirit was prompting her to do so.
So you may come lyrics:
Before the world began
You were on His mind
And every tear you cry
Is precious in His eyes
Because of His great love
He gave His only Son
Everything was done
So you would come
Nothing you can do
Could make Him love you more
And nothing that you've done
Could make Him close the door
Because of His great love
He gave His only Son
Everything was done
So you would come
Come to the Father
Though your gift is small
Broken hearts, broken lives
He will take them all
The power of the Word
The power of His blood
Everything was done
So you would come
When she sang the third time, she saw tears running down her father’s cheek and her father broke into a smile at that moment. A short while later, he fell asleep. He never woke up again.
After the funeral service was over, Sharon began to ask God, “Heavenly Father, why did you ask me to sing the song 3 times and then why did my father tear?” God answered her, “It was because your father felt unworthy of Me for all the years of rejecting Me. He was not sure if he would see Me when he dies. I affirmed him through your singing.” Sharon was touched and was very grateful to God. Only God knows the deepest depth of a person’s heart and know how to respond to him in times of need.
Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart - These, O God, You will not despise.”
Steve
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