One thing I have come to realize through the years, and it has come back as a lightning strike on a darkened afternoon, after I wrote about what it was my former life in the politically privileged circles of this world.
The world, as any structure, living or static one, needs supporting pillars to keep on going despite the abuses and wrongdoings. The world tests the individuals in order to find their breaking points, as well as the developing levels of compromising, complacence, and corruption.
And it uses all those willing ones to bend and sacrifice their integrity and beliefs, for its own benefit and the benefit of the maquiavellan ones who reach the top of the ladder and manipulate the rest of the climbers.
But even the ruthless world, knows well whom to break and destroy, whom to reject and isolate if become definitely non pliable and corrupted. These latter ones are these pillars I am talking about. These latter ones are the potential remnant material that the Scriptures tell us about it.
They are the genuine remnant if they repent from their former wicked or mistaken ways, and decide to change the faked and faking idols of this world for the pure and only real God (not an idol) that they were unconsciously seeking even when they were lost and wandering around.
I had a charismatic leader whom I followed for 23 years of military career. He was what we could say a one eye leader in a land of the blinds. Many times when guarding his back I used to ponder: what would happen if some killed this man? What would happen to the country?
And even if watching what the opportunists and greedy did, and how my leader used them and controlled for his benefit, I could not but accept the lesser, in my eyes, of the so many maladies and miseries around. And I kept on faithfully serving.
What we feared did happen. My country is in an almost unbelievable chaos. And the childish, self deceptive, grossly distorted and delusory justification is to attribute all to the one who is not capable anymore to stand up and talk back.
The petty and irresponsible shouting and insulting ones of today are incapable, or fearful to admit, that they were mistaken or misled, or just greedy hungers for what they could not obtain through their proper ways and means.
They adamantly, and cowardly, refuse to acknowledge that they are the ones responsible for their present woes. In their search for self justification they only have the recourse to insult and disqualify.
They can do no more, they can do no less, after confiscating and fighting for the spoils of the ones who had to leave abandoning all their earthly possessions, not really because they were who they are called to be, but because they simply ended up in the losing side of the struggle that has brought and is bringing more misery and pain than any time before.
I must proudly state that I never was ordered to do wrong or evil, but was given the opportunity to work in communal and national projects that benefited a lot. I served and served well within the social parameters I knew.
But then, once in exile, I finally had to realize that the world and the leaders are just that, a world led by humans, not gods even they consider themselves as such. I had to accept that what they have to offer for your loyalty and your service is no more than copper coins and not gold ones.
It is then when we finally realize the trickery of the world that continually manipulates us into believing it is necessary to follow idols and fashions, and to have more, and more, pricier not worthier, to be a person who has even if he is not.
And the blessings then become, as I said before, no more abundant but evident, not huger but meaningful and vital, shining brighter in the delicate details and colors as the petals of the flowers scattered on the floor of our existence.
This has been the way that the Lord poured His blessings upon us at the most crucial and sensitive times and circumstances, once we decided to serve as full time missionaries, living by faith, and trust in Him in all circumstances and times.
I was at the time a member of the ministries financial committee and was well aware of the financial blessings that so many missionaries in the organization were blessed with.
And we all lived by faith. There were no salaries. And I had only $150.00 as a secure monthly donation from a missionary woman and his family. Could you imagine it was possible to live on that amount, in the United States, serving and traveling back and forth, and for seventeen years? The simplest human logic says no. But we did. Because we were under the shadows of the wings of the Almighty!
We had our immediate needs met, and we had enough left to send back to Guatemala to cover our children living and educational expenses.
They did pitch in, applying themselves in order to keep their well earned college scholarships, up to the point that all graduated with honors and one even became a member of the American Students Honor Society.
But let´s go back to our testimony about God´s grace and blessings!
We were living at a trailer home nearby the house of the Missions organization and at the same time our spiritual director.
One afternoon we only had 2 eggs in the fridge and no money in our pockets, and he suddenly, out of the blue, knocked at our door telling us the Lord had told him to take us shopping for groceries, and he spent around 500 dollars on us.
The world, as any structure, living or static one, needs supporting pillars to keep on going despite the abuses and wrongdoings. The world tests the individuals in order to find their breaking points, as well as the developing levels of compromising, complacence, and corruption.
And it uses all those willing ones to bend and sacrifice their integrity and beliefs, for its own benefit and the benefit of the maquiavellan ones who reach the top of the ladder and manipulate the rest of the climbers.
But even the ruthless world, knows well whom to break and destroy, whom to reject and isolate if become definitely non pliable and corrupted. These latter ones are these pillars I am talking about. These latter ones are the potential remnant material that the Scriptures tell us about it.
They are the genuine remnant if they repent from their former wicked or mistaken ways, and decide to change the faked and faking idols of this world for the pure and only real God (not an idol) that they were unconsciously seeking even when they were lost and wandering around.
I had a charismatic leader whom I followed for 23 years of military career. He was what we could say a one eye leader in a land of the blinds. Many times when guarding his back I used to ponder: what would happen if some killed this man? What would happen to the country?
And even if watching what the opportunists and greedy did, and how my leader used them and controlled for his benefit, I could not but accept the lesser, in my eyes, of the so many maladies and miseries around. And I kept on faithfully serving.
What we feared did happen. My country is in an almost unbelievable chaos. And the childish, self deceptive, grossly distorted and delusory justification is to attribute all to the one who is not capable anymore to stand up and talk back.
The petty and irresponsible shouting and insulting ones of today are incapable, or fearful to admit, that they were mistaken or misled, or just greedy hungers for what they could not obtain through their proper ways and means.
They adamantly, and cowardly, refuse to acknowledge that they are the ones responsible for their present woes. In their search for self justification they only have the recourse to insult and disqualify.
They can do no more, they can do no less, after confiscating and fighting for the spoils of the ones who had to leave abandoning all their earthly possessions, not really because they were who they are called to be, but because they simply ended up in the losing side of the struggle that has brought and is bringing more misery and pain than any time before.
I must proudly state that I never was ordered to do wrong or evil, but was given the opportunity to work in communal and national projects that benefited a lot. I served and served well within the social parameters I knew.
But then, once in exile, I finally had to realize that the world and the leaders are just that, a world led by humans, not gods even they consider themselves as such. I had to accept that what they have to offer for your loyalty and your service is no more than copper coins and not gold ones.
It is then when we finally realize the trickery of the world that continually manipulates us into believing it is necessary to follow idols and fashions, and to have more, and more, pricier not worthier, to be a person who has even if he is not.
And the blessings then become, as I said before, no more abundant but evident, not huger but meaningful and vital, shining brighter in the delicate details and colors as the petals of the flowers scattered on the floor of our existence.
This has been the way that the Lord poured His blessings upon us at the most crucial and sensitive times and circumstances, once we decided to serve as full time missionaries, living by faith, and trust in Him in all circumstances and times.
I was at the time a member of the ministries financial committee and was well aware of the financial blessings that so many missionaries in the organization were blessed with.
And we all lived by faith. There were no salaries. And I had only $150.00 as a secure monthly donation from a missionary woman and his family. Could you imagine it was possible to live on that amount, in the United States, serving and traveling back and forth, and for seventeen years? The simplest human logic says no. But we did. Because we were under the shadows of the wings of the Almighty!
We had our immediate needs met, and we had enough left to send back to Guatemala to cover our children living and educational expenses.
They did pitch in, applying themselves in order to keep their well earned college scholarships, up to the point that all graduated with honors and one even became a member of the American Students Honor Society.
But let´s go back to our testimony about God´s grace and blessings!
We were living at a trailer home nearby the house of the Missions organization and at the same time our spiritual director.
One afternoon we only had 2 eggs in the fridge and no money in our pockets, and he suddenly, out of the blue, knocked at our door telling us the Lord had told him to take us shopping for groceries, and he spent around 500 dollars on us.
I also remember the time we were going back to Guatemala on an outreach to get a job to cover the throat plastic surgery my son Omar needed for his scar.
I had an offer to work as an assistant hospital administrator at a military hospital in Guatemala, offered by its Medical Director, a former friend of mine who knew I had graduated in a Master Program sponsored by the U.S.A. Defense Department and the Texas Baylor University.
I had 500 dollars and I wanted to buy me a nice sound system, but a student girl who was waiting for her family to send her that amount of money, was crying because they could not do so, and then I decided, silently, to place my 500 dollars in her mailbox.
I had an offer to work as an assistant hospital administrator at a military hospital in Guatemala, offered by its Medical Director, a former friend of mine who knew I had graduated in a Master Program sponsored by the U.S.A. Defense Department and the Texas Baylor University.
I had 500 dollars and I wanted to buy me a nice sound system, but a student girl who was waiting for her family to send her that amount of money, was crying because they could not do so, and then I decided, silently, to place my 500 dollars in her mailbox.
While going out of the dining room, one of the leaders, who knew about the reasons why we were leaving, was running up the hill from the white wooden offices house and told me that he had decided to call a lady in Houston, and she decided to send five thousand dollars to take care of the expenses.
We left Omar at the missions place and we went on the road 2 days after with more than 50 enthusiast missionary students, down from Arkansas, through Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador, in those well remembered buses we had for this type of outreaches.
Omar was waiting for us in Guatemala when we arrived there almost two months later, and we were told the plastic surgeon did not charged for his services when he knew what all was about. I mention all this, because I am thinking that the amount of $500.00 is and has been a token and significant figure so many times in our lives. As it could be in the lives of so many around!
Not so much to become used to unnecessary abundance, not so little so we despaired without seeing why and how God provided the daily manna to his people, enough for the day, renewed every morning.
At this moment I feel certain He will provide, soon and in due time, all our needs, everybody´s needs, in the amounts needed, not necessarily the desired. And this could happen, and this will happen, not only to the American people who are wandering through the desert of the actual crisis, misfortunes and loss, but to all the people of the world, If they close their ears to the false prophets who want to replace the U.S.A. sponsors of the false American dream,
When this dream is not based on God´s truth and accepted sovereignty over us!
This conviction, shared for so many years with my former Missions Director, and our always present spiritual director and friends, elicited the responses that I cannot resist to share with all the potential internet readers who could be painfully walking under the stressful adversities of the present days
But this will be the content of the 3rd. part of this series of postings,
keep on reading down below.
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