This story comes from my friend Hannah who I met many years back and was involved with in ministry for many years. She says she heard the story from friends of her family whom she knows personally.
The story: I got a phone call. I wasn’t prepared for the shock. Some things you never feel prepared for. In that moment, I didn’t know how to answer the question, “How big is God?” You may know that my parents have been missionaries in Juarez, Mexico for the last 30+ years. Growing up, I was never afraid in that beautiful city. It was home. A lot has changed in the last 5 years and the city of Juarez has now been given the infamous label of ‘Highest Murder Rate in the World.”
Many ministries are getting out. Mission teams are avoiding it. Lots of people have asked my parents if/when they are leaving. Daddy answers with a calm shrug. “God called us here,” he says, spreading his hands. “He hasn’t told us to leave, so we’ll stay until He says to go. The safest place to be is in the center of God’s will. We’re not afraid.” Those weren’t empty words. They were heartfelt.
My parents were in service at the tiny mission Love & Truth, the youngest of the churches they had planted, with the kind of location that even the outhouse had to be kept locked to prevent vandalism. It was the time of the altar call and many were praying at the front. The little 18’ x 40’ church doesn’t have a raised altar, so the people put their faces to the floor as they fellowship with the Lord.
It was a vulnerable time, from a security standpoint. All the men except one were at the altar. Daddy was moving among them praying when he heard someone say “Hermano José.” He looked up to see three strange men moving through the sanctuary. One of them held his shirt over the lower half of his face. He walked to the front and pointed a pistol at Daddy’s face.
Daddy pointed his finger back in the gunman’s face and said, “There is power in the blood of Jesus.” The gunman pulled the trigger. Repeatedly.
How big is God? How big?
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego faced that question and they were ready to answer. Our God we serve is able to save us from the fiery furnace, but even if he doesn’t, we still won’t bow. Yet the fiery furnace seems so very long ago; so far removed from our modern world.
Daniel knew the risk, but chose to face the lions anyway. God miraculously delivered him. How big is God? Is He less now than He was then?
If my parents, in their mid-sixties, had decided to retire and move to a ‘safer’ place, to be sure, no one would have faulted them. They knew the risk, but they also knew their calling, so they stayed. When numerous friends were targeted and murdered, they still stayed.
Most of the people at the altar hadn’t noticed the three men. The lone musician continued to play the guitar. The gunman pulled the trigger again and again, but the gun never fired! Daddy pushed the gunman’s hand down to his side and they gazed at each other. The man whirled and began to circle around the pews anxiously as his companions pulled out knives and picked the parishioners’ pockets. Mama was ordered to her knees where she closed her eyes and continued to pray. The man returned to my dad 5 times, each time pointing the gun at him, each time seeing Daddy’s finger point back at him and hearing him say, “There’s power in the blood of Jesus,” each time pulling the trigger repeatedly, each time with no response from the gun.
The intruders became very nervous. The altar service continued and two ladies who weren’t aware of the danger felt the urge to pray loudly in the Spirit. One of the men with a knife said, “What did we get ourselves into!”
There is SO much more to the story of what happened that night, but in the end, the men fled. Two members of the church pursued them and the gunman fired at them. Now the gun that would not fire at Daddy sent bullets ricocheting off of walls and into the sand.
How big is God?
Yes, He is the same God who stood with the 3 Hebrews in the fiery furnace. He is still the God who shuts the lions’ mouths. His power has not diminished at all in 2,500 years. Like the book of Isaiah says, From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one.
When Daddy gave me permission to share what happened, he gave it with this condition; that wherever the story be told, the purpose be to inspire FAITH and not fear.
I feel the heaviness of what happened every day--they are my PARENTS, after all. I pray all the more earnestly, but the danger isn’t new. I’ve known that this very thing *could* happen for years, but now I have the confirmation of the power of God on their lives and of His protection over them. I will not dwell on what might have happened when I know that what DID happen was a miracle. God stepped in and surrounded my family with his protection. I couldn’t ask for a stronger confirmation that they are indeed in the center of God’s will and as such, they are safer than they could be in my own living room.
Rejoice with me for God’s protection over my dear parents and please, PLEASE pray for them when the Lord brings them to your mind.
Our God is greater. Our God is stronger. God, you are higher than any other.
Our God is healer. Awesome in power. Our God, our God!
And if our God is for us then who could ever stop us?
And if our God is with us then what could stand against us?
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