Wondering......WHY? A Testimony
by PJ
 There are times in the lives of everyone where we become bombarded and events can almost overwhelm our lives. I don't like giving satan air time but sometimes in teaching we have to be very honest so others can learn. We all go through the same battles.
The L-rd gave me and the Signs and Wonders prayer team a big assignment for the year 2015. We prayed for hundreds of cities in over 135 nations that visited this website. Every single city represented as a visit to this website was prayed for as well as every person in that city. We visited via the internet places all over the world from several nations. I want you to know we prayed with great fervor and great love for so many of you.
From the beginning, there was attack upon every single member of the prayer team. We fought for months through one struggle after another as each member was hit with life altering events. And while I won't go into all that occurred, I will share a little bit of what happened to me and my husband.
In early August my husband had moderately serious surgery that was supposed to prepare him for a joint surgery. But something didn't go quite right in the healing process which caused him to wind up nearly bleeding to death near the end of August. He phoned the doctor repeatedly and I even loaded him up and took him to the doctor only to be told we were overly concerned. But he had a rare bleeding event that no one could see. It happened over such a lengthy period that his fluid volume didn't change although he had not enough blood. His tests looked normal while he had lost a great deal of blood. Finally he went into shock and passed out on me in the lobby of the City of Faith and the hospital called several code blues on him as I sat there and fought the good fight of faith over him. He required units of blood and a second surgery to remove blood clots.
When he was released from the hospital, it was less than a week when he and I found his elderly uncle we cared for deceased. We took care of everything and ministered to family and friends and trusted G-d for our own heart healing. At the same time I continued ministering.
The day my husband was to return to work, his joint needing surgery gave and he fell while taking a shower and broke two ribs so his time off work was prolonged. Finally in October, he was able to have his joint surgery which required a lengthy healing time. It was a long time to be without a personal income.
During this time, I had to undergo two emergency oral surgeries. During one of the surgeries I began bleeding profusely for no reason and the oral surgeon had to use bone wax, surgicel and surgical foam, sutures and pressure to get it to stop. Because the bleeding had been so bad he could not pack the wound site which allowed a dry socket type situation that kept me in agony. The pain did not let up 24/7 and I had to sleep sitting up for over 3 weeks. It was at this time we noticed one of our pets attacked in an eye which necessitated a surgery.
Then came December 24 when we noticed a stream of water running down our driveway to the street.......and down the street.......and across the street.....and it was no small amount of water and hadn't rained. As we began to investigate, it seemed really humid in our home and the weather was relatively warm so we turned on the air conditioning. Suddenly there was a wet spot and a hole formed in the living room ceiling. So we began to call for help only to find out we had a hot water leak in the slab.
The humidity was so high in our home that it caused the return air duct in the attic to condensate and leak through the ceiling. But that made no sense because the air ducts are under the slab. We were soon to learn that thousands of gallons of water had filled all the air ducts and saturated the ground under our home. But no one could work on it until January 4.
So there we were, unable to run the air or the heat without blasting the house with mold spores. We had no hot water for showers, laundry or doing dishes and were stuck having to rent hotel rooms for showers and to heat water to wash dishes by hand while the laundry just piled up.
January 4 came and the leak detectors came to detect the leak and found it and came back a couple of days later after requesting us to pretty much move everything out of the kitchen and dining areas. They then jackhammered this whopper hole in the floor that now necessitates an entire new ceramic tile floor. Then we had to wait a day on a city inspector to approve the leak repair before they could backfill the hole and cover it in concrete. Afterwards workers came to remove all the water from the ducts and then a couple of days later workers came to clean out all the duct work above and below which required us to move things in every room. But during that time, my husband and I both were attacked with colds from no heat.
After 5 months, my husband finally returned to work just in time to get a phone call from me to come help me turn off the water. I had just about gotten my house back in order when I decided to begin catching up on laundry only to find my dryer deluged by water from a hot water tank that decided to do a massive leak-a-thon. But as I am currently at the writing of this article without hot water again *grin*, I couldn't resist asking ABBA.......WHY????????????????? His answer to me was very clear and I want to share it with you because I know I am not the only one going through events and I pray it gives you strength to face your situations.
The Scripture declares in Romans 8:28-30 "Furthermore, we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called in accordance with his purpose; because those whom he knew in advance, he also determined in advance would be conformed to the pattern of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers; and those whom he thus determined in advance, he also called; and those whom he called, he also caused to be considered righteous; and those whom he caused to be considered righteous he also glorified!" We who follow Yeshua have been called. He determined in advance whom He would call and He called us to show forth His glory. If we never have sufferings, we can never know His glory.
During the time of all these events, Signs and Wonders completed missions in Ramat Gan, Israel; London, UK; Madrid, Spain; the Canary Islands; Toronto, Canada; and Cyprus! Those receiving the Thought For The Day did not miss one. The congregation of Tsva'ot Yerushalaim did not miss a service. And G-d kept my husband alive and brought him forth to healing. G-d healed me. G-d blessed us and gave us inheritance. And our home is being repaired to better than it was before!
But I promised you the answer G-d gave to me regarding my question "Why?" The answer lies in the story of the Hebrew children coming out of Egypt. If you study Sh'mot / Exodus 13:17-22, you will see the pattern of G-d's deliverance.
G-d has a place of victory for each of His children, a promised land just as He had for the ancient Hebrews. There they were with mountains on two sides, a sea straight ahead, and Pharaoh and his army coming up the rear. G-d hardened Pharoah's heart to pursue them so He could show forth His glory and deliverance. G-d still does the same thing today when satan chases G-d's children.
The column of fire, [ for you and me the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit)], lead the people as the Angel of the L-rd, Messiah Yeshua, went ahead of Isra'el. We must be lead by the L-rd and the Spirit of G-d. We might not always understand why G-d chooses to go down the long road instead of the short cut, but it's for our benefit, just as it was for the children of Isra'el. He knew that the Hebrews would become discouraged, give up and run back to Egypt if He took them the short route. He knew they were not prepared to fight to enter their promised land at that time. They were not yet disciplined enough to receive their inheritance.
G-d requires a disciplined follower. He chose us to come to obedience to His Word to the point He merely has to nudge us by His Spirit to get us to do what He wants done. We have to become sensitive to Him and move in His flow. And while discipline may not be fun, it is very necessary to prepare us for the war to enter our promised land. And just for the record, the promised land is not heaven. The promised land is a place where we live in victory and overcoming power reigning and ruling with Messiah. But only a disciplined follower will enter it just as only a disciplined Israel entered.
It is through these wilderness experiences that G-d uses His children as bait and lures to snag the adversary. And just like the destruction of Pharaoh, G-d destroys the yokes and bondages of the adversary in our lives. ADONAI HIMSELF does battle on our behalf but only if we do not respond with fear to the situations.
I want to tell you that our victories are assured because we were chosen. When there is absolutely no way of escape as there was the night my husband was dying, G-d shows up as He did for me that night and I watched the salvation of the L-rd rescue my husband from death's grip. It was shocking to watch with my own eyes. In fact, Messiah Yeshua has shown up for every event I have told you about in this message and although my faith has been challenged, it has required me to become even more disciplined.
G-d is an amazing, wondrous and good G-d. His Word is truth. I am living proof the Word of G-d is truth, Tehillim / Psalms 34:20(19) "The righteous person suffers many evils, but ADONAI rescues him out of them all." He has done it for me. Be it the same for you.
We don't give up. We don't stop. We just win and keep going.
GLORY TO YESHUA!
(Scripture Taken from the Complete Jewish Bible by David H. Stern. Copyright � 1998. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Messianic Jewish Publishers, 6120 Day Long Lane, Clarksville, MD 21029. www.messianicjewish.net.)
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