At times the evil one will try anything to stop us from testifying. Paul
and Silas had quite an interesting encounter: A female slave who had a
spirit with which she could predict the future. "She earned a great deal
of money for a also I l owners by fortune-telling." (Acts 16:16c, NIV2)
That's all that was important to her owners.
However once she saw
Paul and Silas, she started following them wherever they went, shouting:
"These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the
way to be saved." (Acts 16:17, NIV2)
"Admirable!" Some may say.
"She is preparing the way!" Truly this was not her purpose. Paul and
Silas couldn't testify, as she kept yelling louder than they could
speak. How could anyone listen to them with all that commotion? No way
could they testify unless . . .
"Paul became so annoyed that he
turned around and said to the spirit,'In the name of Jesus Christ I
command you to come out of her!' At that moment the spirit left her."
(Acts 16:18b, NIV2) The spirit had no choice but to leave her. Finally
they would be able to testify except..."When her owners realized that
their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and
dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities." (Acts 16:19,
NIV2) (After all, money in this world is king!)
As uproar
occurred. Without a hearing, both disciples were stripped and flogged
with rods. Then both of them were thrown in prison. They still were
unable to testify! All because of that spirit! Instead they, "put them
in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks." (Acts 16:24b,
NIV2) The disciples were truly stuck!
Our circumstances were
quite different than Paul and Silas, but we, too, ended up annoyed, with
the impossibility to testify. Let me backtrack . . .
It all
started when we boarded a British Airways plane in Brussels, destination
Heathrow. We had no idea that we would end up being 'hostages' in that
plane for the next two hours. London had been struck by heavy lightning,
and all traffic was halted for the next 20 minutes, creating a huge
backlog that would last for the next several days. We weren't allowed to
leave the plane in Brussels, but the stewardess assured us that we would
be able to take a later flight from London to eventually end up in
Aberdeen, our final destination.
When we finally arrived, we had
the privilege of admiring Heathrow from high up in the sky for what
seemed an eternity. When we finally landed, we were taxied several times
around the airport. We were less than impressed, to say the least! Boy,
we were so dizzy!
Once out of the plane, it was pure chaos. Some
representatives of British Airways told us not to line up in the purple
line, where we could rebook our plane. "Better go to terminal E!" As we
were waiting to pass the border to get to terminal E, we found out that
if we left our current terminal, British Airways would no longer be
responsible for our needs, should we have to spend the night in London.
We were completely confused. We turned back to the purple line, and
waited there for more than 5 hours. The mood of nearby passengers were
sour. I tried to crack a joke, but they looked at me with suspicion.
"Truly, I am not working for British Airways!" I quickly added. Then the
complaining started, as well as more confusion, as all British Airways
agents gave the passengers different advice.
Some people arrived
after us, and they were dismissed. "Come back tomorrow!' These people
had no choice but to sleep in the confines of the airport. I felt so
sorry for them.
We were so hungry! At least they sent a clerk to
our line, providing water and cookies or nuts. Our highlight during our
wait!
Eventually everyone in our line began to seriously worry.
"Look, there are only 5 agents left now!" Then there was 3. Then 2, and
eventually only one! Then came the announcement: "We are closing! We
will give you vouchers to sleep in a hotel, as well as for food. You
will have to come back tomorrow at 5 in the morning." It's then that
several passengers started to yell out in frustration: "Why can these
business passengers rebook and we cannot!" My wife and I were the next
ones in line...
Our luggage was under lock and key, but oh well!
Once at our hotel, we had to stand in line for another 40 minutes. We
fell asleep immediately, but woke up 4 hours later in order to be back
in line by 5 am. We were truly sleep deprived!
However, when
adversity hits us so badly, we, the followers of the Most High, will
have an opportunity to shine; and shine we would, even when
sleep-deprived!
Look for our next installment of 'Heathrow's'
Hunger Games' in two weeks.
Rob Chaffart
Heathrow's Hunger Games. Facing Unimaginable Odds, Part 27a
From:
"Illustrator" <a2p@PROTECTED>
Date:
January 23rd 2016
Today's Bible Verse:
"These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you
the way to be saved." (Acts 16:17)
Heathrow's Hunger Games. Facing Unimaginable Odds, Part 27a
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