Ellasphere

Aug 23

An Inspiration from a Church Worker

Let me just deviate from the theme of this blog to give way to an inspiration which was brought to me today.

The joy of knowing that the Lord will always be there to cleanse our souls before we join Him has been realized during my attendance to our Sunday church service today at Tabernacle of Grace Assemblies of God.

It is inspiring because the Lord is there to comfort us especially in times of our defeat in life, and He makes us triumphant after when we cling on to Him. And I thank Him for taking care of those who remain loyal and faithful to Him and most importantly, to those who serve Him.

Tita Beth Barredo, a servant of God in our church, is one of my favorite workers there. She is a Sunday School teacher, a member of the Women’s organization there, an active servant who would come up with nice gifts for the members and attendees of the church especially during special ocassions. She loves talking to anyone in the church, whether with the aged or with the youth. She even leads the people to worship, and sings there too. Despite of her active presence and her prominence in the church, she remains humble and pleasant to all who is there. She grew old with God, never married but you’ll see the joy when she’s in the church.

Then she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has undergone a series of operations. You see, you won’t even notice her deterioration. Seems that her strength has never deteriorated. She continued her works in the church… and more and more people are being blessed with her and her life.

But then she got weaker and weaker until even it is against her will, she couldn’t attend the church service anymore and we all miss her. After the service, we all went to her, visited her. The thing about this is that, she is really ready to join Jesus… she is ready to face death but we still believe in the power of Jesus to heal.. but then it is His will that should be done.

The thing is, while I was gazing upon her face, I couldn’t help but burst into tears. Not because of how weak she looked, or because I pity her. Actually, my heart was touched by her strength, not just an ordinary physical strength, but the strength that is holy… from our Lord. She looked very pleasant and blooming. I even told her, how blooming she looked. And all she could say was, “the Lord has given me this blooming look. Praise Him…”

Despite of her sufferrings, she said nothing but praises to our God and you can see how much she praises God for everything. And as she faces her future, she just said, “Pastor, I’m ready. His will be done.”

I guess that Jesus is really a shepherd who looks after His sheep no matter what or how we may be. After the death of our physical body, there is life with Christ, and this time, the soul will live forever with Him if we chose to be with Him. We may feel sad upon a life that will leave us but we will be happy and joyful knowing that we will all come home to Christ. This really I believe.

I admire tita Beth’s courage and conviction upon facing this phase and trial in her life. Whatever happens, let God be praised! Thanks tita for your inspiration.