Hey you all! A few of you asked me to share my Journey..well, really its not exactly my journey, but a powerful experience I had with God! And so I hope through this experience, you will feel blessed!
Have you ever felt alone?
Have you ever felt so desperate, you yelled out to God?
Or felt Gods presence so strong, that although your world is being rocked, felt so at peace?
January 1 2013
_____________
It was a clear bright sunny day, a great
start to a fresh new year of 2013 (January 1), and at least that was how it
began. My mum, oldest brother (aged 16), and younger Sister (aged 12) were
enjoying ourselves along the inlet river, that flowed through to the ocean
beach. We were invited with some family friends, and so we were enjoying
ourselves paddling on our bogie boards, unbeknown to the circumstances that
were soon to take hold of us.
I took one step, when all of a sudden the
sandy floor gave way beneath my feet as the strong forceful water, so strong
that I was unable to swim ashore, and then was quickly taking me.
It was too
late; a strong inlet current was taking my brother, sister and me, taking us
towards the ocean beach. What we didn’t know though, that due to the previous
flooding beforehand, the waves were immense, and highly dangerous, and yet there
was noth
ing to do, but pray.
We were taken from the deceiving calm, but
inwardly dangerous strong currents from the ‘supposedly friendly safe’ inlet
river, to meet with the huge ocean waves.
It was then I realized we were all
caught amongst a huge rip that caused my brother, sister and I to be separated.
I was so scared and terrified, that words cannot describe how desperate I was.
I know too, that my siblings would’ve felt the same.
Anyhow, as the massive waves were pounding
us, and pounding us, like we were being tossed around in a washing machine with
no air, I felt as though that was all it, we were done, and I can remember
screaming with panic, trying to hold on to my board for dear life.
Unfortunately my brother was amongst the worst of the rip, and later you find
out why. As I was being constantly dragged under water, I prayed to God in my
heart, pleading for help. It was after I finished my silent prayer, that I
looked to the sky, and felt a strong overwhelming sense of peace and strong
security, that although I was in the crossroads of my life, God gave me the
assurance that everything was going to be alright. I was in his hands, and I
felt that.
As we were being tossed around by the huge storm waves, not too long
after I prayed to God, my Sister, brother and me suddenly found ourselves in
water that was below knee length, along the beach shore.
To this day, I still do not know how we got
so close to shore, but what I do know, is that it was God guided. As I walked
from the shallow water to the sandy shore with my Sister, I quickly met eyes
with my injured brother, who was barely breathing, gasping for air, and was
still knee length in the water. He was in trouble, and I knew it.
The beach was
deserted at first; no one to be seen and I had no idea where we were as we were
taken quite far from where we were originally, when I saw this one man (and
wife) standing nearby. He quickly ran to him, and helped him out of the water
and brung him ashore.
He carried my poor brother to the nearest lifeguard that
was quite some distance away, and left him with the lifeguard to attend to him.
He left then, and we didn’t see him again, nor did we learn of his name. To
this day, I still do not know who he was, or why he was the only person on the
beach, but what I do know, is that God works miracles, and perhaps God used
that man to help bring my brother to safety, and we believe that he may have
been an angel of God.
Thankfully my sister and I were all right,
but later my brother was quickly raced to hospital as his airways and lungs
were collapsing due to swallowing too much excessive ocean water during the
rip. Praise God, he got through okay, no, praise God we ALL got through okay!
I was caught amongst the crossroads in my lives, where when all of a sudden I found myself being tossed around, to the point of death, God was there. No, God
wasn’t just there he was in our
hearts, and he heard my silent prayer, and answered it.
I still praise God today, praising him for my life, praising him for
saving my precious brother, my precious sister and I, from life’s treacherous
waves. And yet when I reflect back, I realize how much I took for granted, and
that even though I experienced
a life frightening experience, Gods almighty
hand was evidently shown throughout every moment of it.
Sometimes
God allows these frightening experiences to take place, not so he can punish us
for the things we did wrong as perhaps some people believe, but so that he can
demonstrate his saving power, love and mercy toward us, so that we may
experience Gods almighty existence in our lives and learn to love him with a
love for others.
He knows you, he knows your deepest pain, and if you find yourself
doubting his existence, I want you to remember this experience I shared with
you today, and know that he loves you passionately, so passionately words
cannot describe it!
And yet sometimes its not until our very life is hanging on a thread, that we come to God, and he answers.
‘Jeremiah
29:13 “And ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all
your heart.”
Thanks for sharing Riarna. It was wonderful to hear the story again. God sure does work in amazing ways and nothing is too hard for Him! Praise God that you and your dear siblings are still alive and well.
ReplyDeleteLove You!
Katie
What an inspiring story, Riarna! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing!
~Katie@ liliesofgrace.blogspot.com
Wow...This is an terrifying and amazing story!! I'm so glad your brother, and all of you, were okay! God does work miracles, and He is ALWAYS watching over us!
ReplyDeleteThat's so beautiful. Oh my gosh! Ah, the Lord and his blessings sure are amazing. XD
ReplyDeletexoxo Morning
http://theworldthroughmywindowsill.blogspot.com
Thanks for sharing sister! It's amazing and inspiring hearing your 'testimony' again about how God is so good! :) Love you! <3
ReplyDeleteThis is so beautiful... I read every single word of this post, tears are welling up in my eyes now:'(
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this!
Beautiful blog, keep posting beautiful things!<3
June
The Journeys' of my beating heart
Stunning! Jer. 29:13 has a new meaning to me now. Thanks for a great post!
ReplyDeleteAngelina
http://ohtirralirra.blogspot.com/
This is so very inspiring! You're a talented writer and god bless you.
ReplyDelete-M
The Life of Little Me
What a very Beautiful post !! , Thanks for posting this ! Keep inspiring !
ReplyDeletexx
Molly
http://www.corinnemolly.blogspot.com
Great testimony of God's loving care. Thank you for sharing this....
ReplyDelete