“LORD, YOU KNOW ME, AND YOU KNOW WHAT’S IN MY HEART” (Part 2)
God has made promises to us, and He keeps them. Though there are various kinds of promises, I’d like to focus on His spiritual promises. Some of the spiritual promises are the continued forgiveness of sins, our sanctification, supplying us with strength and peace in trials, and preserving us to the end. When God made these, they were then and forever unbreakable. His character doesn’t allow Him to break or go back on His word. He will keep the promises He makes.
After the success of Pastor Freddie Mayo's short-term trip to Malaysia, he was convinced to continue stepping out in faith and was expecting more of God’s promises in his life. In 2009, he decided to go to Indonesia. He thought he could go but on the day of his flight, he was offloaded. For some reason, his friends started to question whether he was really called to go on missions. But despite what happened, Pastor Freddie didn’t lose hope and continued to pray and seek God’s will in his life. A year later, while he was attending the Thursday Fellowship in IT, Pastor Gani Sison, the IT Executive Director, was encouraging him to go on missions again. Something was awakened inside of him and felt the burning desire to go on missions again.
In February of that year, he desired to go on a long-term mission, so he signed up to go to Malaysia. He was able to depart the Philippines successfully and he stayed just for a month in Malaysia and then went back home. However, something stirred up in his heart and he wanted to return to Malaysia.
In August, he returned to Malaysia and enjoyed his time serving the people and doing God’s work there. But then again, he was only allowed to stay for a month so for him to extend his stay, he should exit to the neighboring countries and return so he will be granted another 30 days to stay. As he was staying at a friend’s house, he was contemplating whether he should go to Brunei or go back to the Philippines. After praying, his friend spoke to him and said, “If you go back to the Philippines, there’s an assurance that you can return to Malaysia”. After hearing his friend’s remarks, he knew in his heart that the right thing to do is to go back to the Philippines.
His ticket was booked for that night and the next day he went to the airport for his flight. When he was at the immigration, he encountered a problem. He didn’t realize that he overstayed for two days. But God’s favor was upon him and he was given leniency and wasn’t charged for overstaying nor prohibited from coming back if he wants to.
In November that year, he flew back to Malaysia and had no problems entering the country. Months passed and in his sixth month in Malaysia, he found out that the agency that was supposed to process his visa didn’t do anything regarding it. He was overstaying for six months without his knowledge and it would be considered a serious offense in Malaysia. He sought advice from the Philippine Embassy about his situation. He found out that he was in a very complicated situation. He was advised to exit Malaysia by boat and go back to the Philippines.
His friends helped him so he managed to find a boat he could take to go home. He got on a small fishing boat and hours passed. It was already evening, and the cold breeze was brushing through his face as the boat sailed. He was sitting on a small chair while praying. “Lord if you are with me, please give me a sign” Pastor Freddie spoke from his heart. He knew it was a great risk to travel by boat but as long as God is with him, he is sure that he is in good hands. After asking for a sign, he saw a very bright star and the sky was so clear that he felt God’s presence as he looked up at the sky. It was somehow God who was telling him that everything was going to be okay. After hours of the voyage, Pastor Freddie and the other two passengers who are also Filipinos arrived safely in Palawan. When they arrived in Palawan, they didn’t know anyone and didn’t know where to stay while waiting for their flight a few days later. But God was with them and they met some people along the way who helped them, took them in, and fed them. After a few days, the three of them flew back to Manila.
After all the obstacles Pastor Freddie encountered, he asked God what he should do next. God spoke to him and said, “Arise and proceed to your journey”. That was when he decided on returning to Malaysia. So, what he did was he had his passport renewed right away and he started declaring in his church and to other people that he is going to Malaysia again.
In February 2012, he flew to Malaysia. He set his heart on getting a visa, so he applied for it. However, it was hard to work it out at that time. He was told he had to go back to the Philippines passing Zamboanga which is the southern part of the Philippines. With a determined heart, Pastor Freddie took a boat for 18 hours and reached Zamboanga. Then he returned and made his entry to Sabah, Malaysia. His friends welcomed him and gave him money and it accumulated to 20,000 pesos which was the money he needed for his one-year visa. He sang praises to God for he got his first-ever long-term visa after all the hardships he went through. Also, for the past 5 years, his visa was always renewed. And despite not having any job in Malaysia, God never failed to give him the money needed to pay for his visa. And throughout those years, he had the wonderful experience of traveling to many more countries and gaining good friends and precious memories in every one of those places.
God kept His promise to Pastor Freddie. It took him several attempts but, in the end, it was still fulfilled in God’s own time. We know that God’s ways are not our ways and His timing often does not line up with our scheduled plans. God will always be faithful to you, to the promises He has given you and He will enable you to do what He has called you to do as part of His plan. Trust Him for all you need. His faithfulness and promises bring us blessings but, most of all, they bring glory and praise to God Himself. Let’s proclaim how great God is! Let the heavens and all creation praise and bless the God Most High –El Elyon!
Joshua 23:14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.
(Written by: Venus Jablo)