Never give up in adversity

The National Weekender
FAITH

Allowing God to intervene in the darkest patches on life is like seeing light at the end of the tunnel,

 

Words of blessing and encouragement based on God’s word was a beacon of hope in Mori’s life.

By Pastor ISAAC JAMES
LIGHT at the end of the tunnel is an expression of a hopeful assurance of victory on the brighter side in the midst of any difficult circumstances that anyone may go through in life.
A tunnel experience in life can be as painful and most stressful period where all hope is gone and chances of survival or recovery is slim or unreachable.
Some may succumb to their depressed state of mind by choosing the wrong way out or get stuck, while others may hold on with sheer determination and move on towards the light where there is restoration, healing and relief from their ordeal.
Greek philosopher Aristotle once said: “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.”
The following is a testimony of how a woman who endured her dark moments in the midst of four attempted suicides and is now able to rebuild her life with a new hope of a better future with her family.
Mori (not her real name) is a mother of four children, who grew up in a family of 12 with a good background. Her father held a senior position in one of the disciplinary forces and all her brothers and sisters were well-educated and employed.
Life was going well with them until tragedy started to happen when her youngest sister died mysteriously in 1983.
In 1996, Mori’s husband left her to marry another woman. After a few years, her mother died in 2002 from a sickness that caused her stomach to swell and that also affected her legs.
Mori was the only in her family who took care of her mother while she was suffering on her sick bed.
“I saw my mother’s suffering when I was caring for her during her sickness. When she died, our food rations in the kitchen began to lessen because we were losing our jobs. At times when there was not enough food, we experienced hunger unlike before.”
As a single mother, Mori took care of her children which was not easy until she remarried in 2011. Mori’s joy of having someone to support her to raise her children was short-lived as misfortunes began to escalate in her family.
Her eldest sister died a painful death after battling with cervical cancer in 2019 while she was waiting for her scheduled operation.
Reign of sickness and death
The reign of sickness and death continued in Mori’s family when her father who had retired from public service was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2020. As his condition deteriorated, Mori realising that her family was affected by some kind of a curse, asked her father to speak words of blessing upon her life which he did before he died.
The words of blessing was a beacon of hope that Mori needed to help navigate her way out of the troubled waters of her life.
Whilst considering ways to overcome her difficulties, more problems recurred with her husband and children.
Suicide attempts
As a result, Mori was overwhelmed with depression and she attempted to commit suicide on three separate occasions but failed because of a voice that kept telling her in her mind not to do it.
On her fourth attempt to take her own life, her seven-year-old daughter intervened just in time to save her life as she was in the process of drinking a handful of chloroquine tablets mixed with a laundry detergent.
“As I was about to drink the tablets from a cup, my daughter who had watched me through the window ran quickly into the room, grabbed me and told me not to drink the medicine because God did not want me to kill myself. At that moment I cried sorrowfully as I was reminded that life was a precious gift from God and I should not destroy it.”
Mori knew that something was definitely wrong within her family so she decided that is was time to move out from her parent’s house. With her husband’s help, they purchased a piece of traditional land and moved out with their children to resettle on their own.
In spite of the relocation, another problem occurred. Mori’s husband walked on her and her children after a minor argument. In her haste to bring him back, Mori tried to use the power of witchcraft but her attempts failed.
She then decided to seek God’s help in prayer. One day as she attended a church service within her area, she petitioned God that if He was real He would bring her husband back to her and she would commit her life to serve Him. God responded promptly to her appeal when her husband returned a few days later much to her delight.
Mori then began her new pathway to commit herself and her family to prayer and reading the Bible for spiritual strength and guidance. However, a health condition had developed in her body as a result of the emotional and mental pressures she encountered.
Mori was infected with urinary tract infection which affected her normal urine cycle and weakened her strength to do her daily tasks. In addition, she always felt an evil presence hovering over her life which haunted her with fear and evil dreams.
One Sunday afternoon not long ago, as she was listening to NBC Radio Central, she heard me sharing from the Word of God. In that particular message, I testified of how an elderly woman in the highlands was healed by God from a blood condition in her body when I visited and prayed for her some years ago.
That woman had experienced bleeding after having a bath in a nearby creek. As Mori was listening to the message, she was encouraged and convinced that if God can heal that woman, He can also heal her. She then contacted me a few days later for prayer and according to her faith, God healed her from her sickness and restored her strength.
Evil presence
Her urine cycle has been restored and she can now attend to heavier tasks. The evil presence and the curse which troubled her life and her family was also broken during the phone prayer session.
After her healing, Mori visited her elder sister who was sick with a heart condition to comfort her with prayer and encouragement but unfortunately her sister died shortly after her visit.
Other members of her family also experienced various problems in their life.
New perspective to life
Through all the hardship and loss that Mori encountered, she is thankful to God that she has endured the sufferings and came out as a changed person with a new perspective to live and stronger in her faith.
Through Mori’s prayer, her husband and her son are now employed and she looks forward for a better and brighter future for her and her family.
One scripture that has encouraged and strengthened her faith is Jeremiah 29:11 which says: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Mori’s testimony is shared with her permission so that others who are facing difficult circumstances can be encouraged that there is hope in the midst of trouble.
There is hope
Where there is a will, there is a way. You don’t have to give up or lose hope even when there seems to be no way.
You may be struggling with issues associated within your family lineage or with unseen evil powers at work that cannot be dealt with by medication or human strength.
If tragedy is common in your family lineage, it is a sign of a curse. You don’t have to commit suicide because your life is precious and things will get better if you will allow God to intervene in your life.