God is Awesome in this Place!

7/2/2008

What an experience it was indeed!  I was one of the women who went through a high-anxiety ordeal at our church premise when four men charged into our midst while were having our Fit4Praise class.  As I was standing nearest the stairs, I noticed something was amiss about the strangers wearing dark sunglasses and caps.  They looked menacing and ruthless with their long knives and what's more, the leader was waving a gun at us! My first thought was that we must cooperate and pray to God fervently that none of the girls will scream in fear, for that would create chaos and trigger an attack.

I praise God that He was truly in control throughout because none of us was harmed.  Christian, our brave team leader, was calm and composed.  She even had the courage to tell the robbers in Cantonese not to harm us and asked them to help themselves to our belongings.  She made it know that we were Christians and will not take revenge. 

All of us readily surrendered our watches, jewelry and belongings to the robbers.  We were then ordered to huddle in a corner where they tied us and blindfolded all of us.  Our bags were emptied of cash and cell phones before they fled in Christina's four-wheel drive.

In the corner, we had a chance to be close to one another, enabling us to hold hands (although tied tightly) and pray.  We encouraged each other and sang praises to the Lord.  Our praise music was still at top volume.  The robbers had forced us to leave the music on.  The song 'God is Awesome in this Place' played loudly, ministering to us in our time of need.

I believe God allowed this to happen to remind us what is important in our lives.  The robbers took our possessions but could not rob us of what we have in Christ.  God's words hold true for me as He promised in Phil. 4:13.  "And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  I have neither fear nor anxieties after the whole ordeal.

Lisa Liaw  Reprinted from Community Baptist Church, Selangor, Malaysia by permission. www.cbcpj.org