Your Father Which is in Heaven

"Bravo Bravo, do you copy?" I heard my call sign on the radio. Answering I found out that I was needed to go and see a man that had been sick for almost a month on the other side of the mountain. Caleb and I treked over and looked at the poor man, Bubun was pretty much just skin and bones. He was lying in his hut surrounded by ankle deep mud and pig feces on the trail. He had typoid and, later we found out, malaria.The next morning Bubun's brother in law carried him over the hill to our clinic in an ingenous wicker basket slung over his forehead. He was admitted so that we could watch his vital signs and make sure that he in fact did take his medicine. (his family has a record of giving the medicine only when it tastes good). A few days later, we recieved word that several of Bubun's kids were sick. To make a long story short we ended up with all of his family except for his wife and one daughter coming to the clinic as inpatients to be treated for either typhoid or malaria.Through all of the late nights, language barriers, spit up medicine and prayers, my strength and determination would wane and I was forced to realize that with each patient I should always ask Christ for wisdom "If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all men liberally. . . " James 1:5. As I did, I could see that with each encounter my service actually drew their hearts out and to the loving God that I served. Without asking for wisdom there were times that I felt my work actually begin to harden hearts toward me and not change them towards God at all. By God's grace I continued to persevere and trust God to work the final results which I could not see.Finally as a grand finale, the Bubun had a reaction to the Larium that we gave him for his malaria. He started throwing things off of the porch and ripping up his daughter's school notebook. The student missionary staff slept with him for 3 nights to safeguard him. As the sedation medicine that we gave him began to wear out I told him story after story of the power of Christ when He was here on earth. I told him the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. I told them the five thousand were full , Jesus had filled them. In palawan, the word that is used when one is full means the same thing as "I am alive". So in telling him the story, I told him that Jesus could make him alive. What a blessing it was to see this work out. I didn't even mean to make that connection, but as I had been praying for wisdom God gave me the words that this man needed to hear.When it was all said and done and Bubun and his childern began to regain strength the smiles that this man had were reward enough. I could see that as I relied on God for wisdom and let Him serve through me, this man's heart was softened and the life of service to his maker was recommended in a powerful way.May we all continue to rely on the real power of Christ to give us a Christ-like character. Let us live lives that recommend the service of our Creator to those in whom we come in contact with.
Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."