Walk with Faith

Pastor Peter Soratana

In Psalms 119:105, your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light on my path.

Nowadays we may not use torchlight. In Thailand we use street lamps and car light as we travel. There are lights all over the city and it's bright. Sometimes we rely so much on the lamp post that we did not realise our headlights are not working. Only in darkness do we realise the headlights are not working. Without the headlights we cannot move on.

The word of God is like that light. Many times we can still go on with our lives because we rely on the street lamps in the cities. When we are in the dark, then we realise we need the light from the word.

There was one time I needed to travel from Bangkok to a place that's dark in the mountains. It's the first time we went there. We started to question the villagers how to get there. They gave directions but the best is to stay overnight. But I needed to leave because I needed to preach the next day.

The way became darker and darker and we relied on the headlights. The road has lots of bends so we had to move slowly. Near midnight it was full of fog and we could not see. The headlights shined on the fog so we cannot see the way. So we used fog lights. The moment we on the fog light, the light became so bright we could see the way.

Apart from the word of God that we rely on, we also need a special word from God so that we can break through the fog. We cannot just rely on our knowledge but based on the word of God through the relationship we have with God. It's the word of God through our experience. Something we can pull from our heart and apply it.

We sometimes just open the Bible when in trouble to look for the word of God. And we can't find it. At the end of the sermon I will call on a person to share his testimony. I want to tell you problems exist not just to war against the Christians but also everyone. Health, relationship, finance, problems in school which attacks us. Problems come with sin. Because everyone sin and fall short of the glory of God. Those who fall in sin are slaves to the sin. And there's no way to escape the sin that strangles you.

A lot of people try to be a good person to escape from sin. Or try all kinds of things. Like accumulate a lot of money to break free from sin. Some people try by going to certain places or worship idols. Or be involved in charity to break free from sin. Everything that belongs to the slave belongs to the master. All the goodness the slave does belongs to the master. So all the good things the slave does cannot break free from the master. But there is a higher power and we need this higher power to buy you out.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

All of you have been bought from sin and all of you have been bought from the master. God uses his status as King of kings to buy you out. But nobody seems to realise that and still act like a slave. Some change from Buddhism to Christianity but still live as a slave. God has bought you with the high price in Jesus Christ. God bought you expecting nothing in return. So how should you respond? Just believe in what God has done for you. God has bought and paid for you so you are no longer a slave.

Sickness belongs to a slave. Fighting with one another belongs to a slave. We don't have to fight each other. God has enough gifts for everyone so no need to be jealous of anyone.

We often have enemies surrounding us. Like receiving a letter of termination. There are different sorts of problems but it's how we response to these problems. We may respond with worries. And do not know how to handle the problem. Or you go to a doctor and is told you have a problem and we believe what the doctors say. And believe what is happening to us. Or you read a letter and and is told your son's application to a school is rejected. We respond with shock. This is the response in the example of 1King 6. Or blame the servant of God. And refuse to accept our mistakes but blame others.

In 2 Chronicles King Jehoshaphat faced the same problem when surrounded by enemies. But King Jehoshaphat seek help from God. A different kind of response from two different kings.

I'd like to invite my wife Pinky. We have been together 9 years. God is alive and he's been dealing with our problems all these years. When Pinky was pregnant three months, the doctors told us all is well and it's a boy. 95%. So we decided to name our life child as Peniel, the face of God. Someone that God will use in future. At the 4th month we consulted the doctor again and we found something's wrong. The kidney of the baby is not working. The left side is bigger and the right side is smaller than normal. Both kidneys are not working. The doctor told us to abort and that he will pay for all the bills.

He wanted to send us to KL and to provide us accommodation apart from paying for the bill. Everything seemed like a blessing because all will be paid and we were told we can try again. But we trust in God. He promised that he will bless us and it will not come with sorrow. And the child is a blessing. God will take care of it and we believed. The doctor say he won't take care of us anymore and told us to consult another doctor. We believed that when we come for an ultrasound all will be normal. But the second doctor told us the same diagnosis as the first doctor.

Many people may respond and say this had to be true because both doctors said the same things. But not us. We consulted a third doctor at Island Hospital and God blessed us with someone who sponsored us. We hoped for a change but it was the same. Both kidneys not working. And the doctor said he will do the abortion. It seems right because we can do it here instead of KL. But no, we trusted in God. If we trust in God we will continue to walk with him. It's like driving the car without a headlight. We believe God will help us to turn the situation into good.

So we decided to consult the 4th doctor and we found a Christian doctor. We had to go to Butterworth and after the ultrasound, the same thing, both kidneys not working. But the doctor didn't say abort. He said we can trust God and not worry but to praise him.

We consulted the same doctor the 5th time which was the same result. We came to church and some people felt sympathy and some were negative like that we were not good servants of God. Must be the punishment of God. So some wanted us to return back to Thailand and they will take over the ministry. We still love them and forgive them. But what they told us was contradictory but we tell people about our child and all is good.

We felt pressurised by church members to move back to Thailand. But we had to be strong and appear cheerful as it will affect the health of the baby. But we didn't receive the love and support from the surrounding but we have God. Every morning we praise God and we put our hands on the child and prayed that through his stripes Peniel will have life and will be born strong. We spoke goodness on our child. We did not let the ultrasound play on our mind.

We believed that the child will be healthy and strong. If you believe you will see greater things. At 7 months during the usual check up, everything was still the same despite the prayers and trust. But our faith still remains and we believe in God that this blessing will not come with sorrow. We did not believe in what we see. We continued to put our hands on the child.

Some people will give up after 7 months because nothing have changed. But we continue to trust God because God will not fail. God will accomplish what he desires.

On the 8th month the doctor examined and there was a smile on the face of the doctor and he said God has changed the situation. The big kidney became normal and the smaller kidney became bigger and was working. And the doctor say 2 more weeks for delivery. Because the child is big at 3 kilos and is good to deliver on 8 and a half month.

When we arrived to church we were questioned again. If we still want to remain in this church and still want to deliver, they will not pay for anything. When delivery came we only had RM50. We went to BM and was clueless. Those called to the counter paid the deposit and went for delivery. We did not know there was a deposit needed. We just trusted God to provide.

When the nurse called and we went to the counter, she told us to go to the labour room without asking for a deposit. The nurse asked if we wanted 4 bedded or single. To save cost we asked for 4 bedded room but she said 4 bedded full so we had to take the single room with only RM50.

And she asked what milk we wanted and we had no idea. She showed us the most expensive milk. We only had RM50. In the room, a Thai lady asked us if we had money to pay for the bill we said we only have RM50. She said you'll be here 3 days so she said she'll loan us and transfer some money. But the Bible says we will not be a debtor so we said no. As the lady said she wanted to lend us the money a message came in to Pinky's phone and a church member sent a message to congratulate us, told me to take a good rest and the day we leave the hospital he will fetch us and take care of all the bills.

With the problems with our child we got a special Visa. We are often questioned why we come so often but with Peniel's problem we can come in and out without problems. Hallelujah.

The hand of God is not short nor his ear deaf that he cannot help you. There is two ways to choose. Choose the easier way of the world and walk traditionally and walk according to the majority or you want to choose to walk with Jesus. If you choose to walk with Jesus  you have to walk with faith. If you don't walk with faith it is not possible to please God. Let the word of God today encourage you. Through our testimony it's not that we are special. God does not choose special people but it's about how we choose to respond to God. We choose to be obedient and trust God. It's not just based on the knowledge of the word of God but on how we respond to him.