A week had not lapsed since I wrote my last article, Ships At Sea, before sad news struck our community about the fate of three ambitious, sea-fearing men presumed lost to the boundless ocean. By all accounts, they had gone fishing in the area of Prickly Pear last Saturday when a sudden high swell swamped their boat, causing it to capsize. Two of the men were rescued but, sadly, one is still unaccounted for.
In light of this horrific incident, I must pause to publicly share my sincere condolences with the bereaved families, relatives and friends who are left to contend with the loss of their loved one ever since that fateful day.
That same Saturday, at about 12:30 p.m., a modest group from our church community had gathered at the beach in Sandy Hill for a baptism of six candidates. We were blessed with a feeling of reward for we were in obedience to Christ who had established the sacred ordinance, quite early in the history of the church, for those who would follow after Him.
As I waded out a distance from the shore, far enough to find adequate depth for proper submersion, a reflection of the episode of Paul’s rough voyage toRomeflashed across my mind. In part, I had referred to it in the article Ships At Sea, but I had stopped short of relating the tragic drama of his actual shipwreck. Quick thoughts of sea-fearing tragedies crossed my mind. Then I came to a stop in the choppy waters and, with uplifted hands, thanked God for the privilege of being able to conduct a baptism, just as His beloved son Jesus Himself was baptized in the murkyJordan Riverby John the Baptist.
Later in the mid-afternoon, that same day, a smaller group of us was at the church in The Farrington doing some preparatory work for the following day’s service. The sun was out, the atmosphere was balmy but cool, and a light to moderate breeze was blowing from the northeast. We were all indoors while the zoom of regular traffic could be heard traversing up and down the busy highway.
An occasional speeding car would catch our gaze, but nothing was out of the ordinary. All of a sudden a great explosive sound captured our attention. As we rushed to the door and looked out, we were amazed to see a lone car heading east with a trail of glass, on the street, behind it.
The car soon slowed to a stop ahead of the scene of the incident. It was not long before we realized that it was the rear windshield that had actually popped out. I walked over to the vehicle to make sure the occupants were fine. Two young children were in the back seat, and a female driver along with a male passenger occupied the front. Fortunately, none of them was injured.
The driver explained that it is one of the weirdest things that ever happened to her in all her driving experience. She couldn’t understand why. There was no previous crack in the glass or anything that might have given rise to such a blow-out. They were driving along under normal conditions, with windows up and air-co on, when all at once the entire rear glass, along with its insulating rubber seal, suddenly flew out of its place with a massive thud, hitting the street and splintering directly in front of the church.
Being acquainted with the adult occupants, I tried to console them by telling them to do their best to follow what God’s Spirit says to them. That was the most applicable advice I could have given, as I thanked God for their safety.
See, by God’s sovereign provision, He does allow certain “bad” and undesirable things to happen at times. But we must be careful to take note of these instances from which we should learn. We must be sensitive enough to ask: “God, what is in this for me? What lessons are you trying to teach me?”
Notwithstanding, there are manifold spirits of evil in the supernatural realm today, and these are they which wage war against the Spirit of good – the Spirit of God. The ordinary man who may not know why certain mysterious happenings occur is often oblivious to the powers of the devil. But evil often presents itself in such an austere fashion.
In my view, there are three prominent reasons why certain “weird” occurrences cannot succeed in causing pain or injury. The first reason is that while an evil force may be targeted against an individual or individuals, the God of Heaven hears the prayers of people who would be interceding on behalf of the persons in question, and He answers such prayers by sparing tragedy and harm. That is why prayer is so essential. God is faithful enough to reward His people when we trust Him as we pray.
Secondly, Jehovah, the God of Heaven, is gracious and merciful enough to spare us pain even when we do not recognize that we may be in harms way. These are the times when He assigns His angels to guard, protect and guide those who trust in His delivering power. Thirdly, though God favors whom He wills with supernatural safety and protection, still He is no respecter of persons. His Word tells us so. And this same Word also reminds us that He gives select blessings to the just as well as to the unjust. God’s protection is in His divine will for those whom He chooses to favor with it.
However, there are forces of evil that do bring hurt and pain – obviously. These uncanny forces are real and must be reckoned with. Evil acts are perpetrated in various cunning forms – magic, sorcery, witchcraft and necromancy are but a few. There are evil people in the world at large, and in many of our neighboringCaribbeanislands there are those agents who have given themselves to the business of indulging in dark and sinister practices. And they do it for large sums of money.
The unfortunate thing is that they operate under the guise of doing a service for their indiscriminating “customers”, but in reality they are deceptive, misleading and heartless enough to pitilessly pull their fellow human beings in states of misery, jeopardy and even death, all for the sake of “money”. Wealth is their aim; and the wealthier they become the more money they drive after. Yes, their love for the evil they trade is keenly akin to their love for money. In fact, the scripture claims that the “love of money is the root of all evil”. Remember?
It is time that our decent people become sensitive enough to (1) recognize the presence of such people lurking on the doorstep of our communities, and to (2) steer clear of their foul influences. Let us not be overcome by their hidden snares. The only way, and in fact the most effective way, to guard oneself against these evil perpetrators, is to maintain a vehement disdain for the powers of evil and allow one’s spirit to surrender to the cross of Jesus Christ, God’s son, whose blood alone can cover and shield us from all wickedness and harm. Once we identify such agents of evil, we must not even inquire as to the traits of their practices but, instead, we must pray against their powers and abhor their vicious acts. They will ultimately have their reward.
It is alleged that here inAnguillaabominable elements of debauchery have come to propagate their ruthless business of greed, launching ill and depravity on misfortunate folk. Some local folk have lost their peace of mind due to their undiscerning consultation with such agents. Our society, as we’ve known it, has until now been a safe and peaceful haven where, for the most part, we have traditionally been a people who feared God and eschewed evil.
Nowadays, though, popular people in places of repute have embraced ungodly practices with open arms. Our government officials must be brought to task to investigate subtle trends of obeah that is slowly infiltrating our innocence. The “powers that be” must spare no effort to deport these wicked traffickers from our shores as soon as they are detected. Is that asking too much of those who have been elected to represent us? Are we going to allow some cloak of legislation to cover and defend them?
Well, just take a look at other islands around us which have been for many years exposed to characters of evil workers, and see the frequent injuries, mysterious deaths and carnage that infest their land as a result of supernatural evil influences. Can we really afford to be plagued by such undue hardship? Sin is still a reproach to any people. Remember?
MayAnguillaonce again be a haven for well-meaning people who would contribute to our peace, prosperity and well-being. We‘d surely lose the favor of God if we deliberately allow our “banner of truth and right” to be tarnished by the corrosive elements of evil and darkness. God bless ‘til next time.
