WHAT HAS GOD DONE FOR YOU THIS WEEK?

After a Sunday morning service, Tony questioned me, ‘Mrs Steward, what has the Lord done for you this week?’

While it is easier to remember events from six months ago it is at times more difficult to recall incidents of the previous days. I hesitated, and hedged a little.

‘The Lord has been good to me, Tony, and helped me through each day.’ But Tony was not satisfied.

‘Can‘t you be more specific, Mrs S.?, he asked with youthful directness as I tried to remember. Did he expect something dramatic in a homemaker’s life? A wife and a mother sees the Lord as her Helper in the ordinary, often mundane areas of life. But thereafter , I kept a piece of paper and pen for a list to prepare me for Tony’s weekly question, " What has the Lord done for you this week?.

I asked much-younger Tony , ‘I am curious to know why you want to talk to me each week, and ask this question?.’

‘Well, you older people have walked the christian path longer, and I figure that you should know a thing or two about God’s goodness; and I want to learn from you’.

Such encouragement from a young man afforded me the privilege of sharing God’s goodness from the week’s events.

One event particularly touched his life. My husband entered hospital for a total hip replacement. During his years of medical practice in Indonesia he operated on numerous people, and later in local general practice. He always prayed for his patients before surgery and at the birth of babies. Now, here was my beloved husband about to undergo surgery; and who would be there to pray for him?

I wondered whether I should go to the hospital on the morning of the operation and pray with him, but hesitated to intrude. So I prayed a simple prayer, ‘Lord, please send someone to pray with my husband before his surgery’.

And it required someone who was at the hospital well before 8am, which was extremely unlikely for any visitors.

When I visited Harrold early that evening, he told me, ‘Whom do you think came to pray with me before the operation this morning?’ I could not guess.

‘Dr Lim Chin. He arrived early to visit one of his patients, and casually looked over the morning’s operation list, where he saw my name for surgery. He came in and prayed for me.’ Every time I see Dr Lim I remind him he was the answer to my prayer that morning. He smiles, because he usually visits his patients later in the day.

I shared this with Tony.’ Wow! That’s great.’

Later, I told Tony my own story.

I entered hospital and had cardiac bypass surgery. The Cardiologist warned me to expect a probable ‘down’ day about the fourth day. He was right.

On that day I felt ‘off’ and the tears welled and rolled down my cheeks for no obvious reason. I tried to read scripture verses, but was unable to concentrate.

About mid-morning a lady walked into the ward.

‘Marlene, ‘I said, as I pulled a tissue to wipe away the tears ‘What are you doing here?’ It was 10 years since our last encounter. ( Her husband and mine studied the six year medical course together ).

‘Well,’ she said, ‘I have been a Chaplain in this hospital for many years, and because I retire today I came in to say farewell to the Cardiology staff. I saw your name on the patient list and came to greet you and pray with you.’

We chatted, Marlene prayed, and encouraged me with scripture, and a card with a comforting verse. She kissed me, and left. She was like an angel unawares.

Tony gladly received these evidences in answer to his questions, ‘ What has God done for you this week?’ He realised that the Holy Spirit motivates and moves people in the right time and in the right place.

SO – What has God done for YOU this week? Gwenda