For the past couple of weeks, I have been reconnecting with a lot of my old friends back home. For most of the time, it was the usual exchange of ‘hi’ and ‘how are you’. But then again, interesting things and interesting revelations arise from our conversations. There was one specific conversation that hit me. A couple of days ago, I reconnected with an old friend of mine. We first met back when I was still in 4th year high school. It was in fact, a very random, unlikely kind of meeting. For you see, she was a friend of a friend of one of my close friends. Our conversation started off as a usual light-hearted conversation. We joked around mostly poking fun at each other for the silliest things. Then it simmers down to a kind of serious tone when she had asked about what I was doing for the past month, and about my girlfriend(ex). I’ve told her that it was no more, three months now. I jokingly said that I was, ‘in a relationship with God.’ Which she laughed to and responded by saying, “That’s my line.” I didn’t recall her being Christian at all. I always assumed that she was Catholic. My mentality back then was that everyone was Catholic. I did recall that years ago when we were still in good contact, I’ve always ranted to her about how unfair and terrible God is, if there was a God. And I would tell her about a lot of what I thought about it. I told her that I didn’t believe. I proclaimed myself unable to believe, out of lack of evidence and sheer hatred.
“I’m seeking…” I told her, “and actually finding something. Which is amazing.”
“Wow…” She responded with a kind of amazement sprinkled with curiosity.
“Is that so surprising?” I asked her.
“How can you not find anything when what you’re seeking is soo extremely huge! It’s impossible for you not to see.” She replied with a hint of assurance. “But there are people like that. People who don’t see.”
“And I know how it feels not to find anything. Even when you are desperately trying to find something. But He sure does work in strange ways.”
By this time, I knew for a fact that she is Christian. I was sure of it. At that same time there was a deep sense of fellowship between us. Like our spirits are talking. I thanked God for this unexpected blessing. And again, I was reminded of the circumstance in which we had met before.
“Who would’ve known that an atheist would come back to Him.” I told her this with awe in the circumstances God has played in our lives.
“How did you find Him?” She asked out of curiosity.
“When you are at the bottom of a deep well, all you can do is look up at the light above.”
Words come out of my mouth that surprised even me. But it was something that I remembered realizing during one of the talks at church. She laughed at my seriousness.
“Can I tell you something?” She asked me all of the sudden.
“What’s that?”
“You are a proof that God is soooo real. To me, at least.”
That surprised me. I felt very blessed that moment.
“Before, I remember you mentioning not believing in Him. I think a couple of years back.”
“I remember that”
“That, I didn’t forget.” There was a long pause. “And since then, I’ve always included you in my prayers. You, and this other dude. And it’s so amazing! God delivers.”
“Sometimes, when you are so stubborn and proud of yourself, He finds a way to bring you down so much that you come running back saying ‘Daddy~’ . Which is exactly what happened to me. So I hope and pray for this guy too.”
This was the point where I realized the importance and power of prayer. It really is something when you pray for something for yourself. But it’s even stronger that you pray for someone else. If that’s the case, then God really is a benevolent God. I am really blessed with good friends. Even this girl, who I barely talked to for the past few years… God used to teach me a valuable lesson and to bring me much more closer to Him. Again, I am reminded that there are no such thing as coincidences and accidents. It all falls into place, and sometimes, it takes years.
Thoughts For Christ 