The men, who had
been drinking wine and beer, were all fine, and were calling out,
"Can your Jesus not cure you?" and, "Did Moses not
cross the Red Sea? Can your God not help you on this sea?"
Despite their bravado and jokes, I knew they were a bit anxious
and were wondering if I'd be up to the driving, later on.
Someone has said there are three stages of sea sickness; the
first is you think you're going to die; the second is you
know you're going to die; the third is you wish you were
dead! I was definitely at the third stage!
My
faith was at an all time low. Over and over again I prayed and
asked God, "Why?" I was serving Him and had told the
men about Him - now I wouldn't be able to open my mouth
again. How could I tell them about a God who could help them -
when they saw that He wouldn't help me? I was in despair!
Once
ashore, I was immediately better and was able to enjoy some food
and drink before driving home. The men were happy and
enthusiastic; they'd all caught fish and had a wonderful
time. We stopped to play a round of Crazy Golf, on the way home.
I was healthy again but felt I had lost face before them as a
Christian. I just had nothing to say to them - no explanation and
I felt so let down by the Lord.
Later
that night, when the men came to the club we were running for
them, they said to Trixie, "Well, did you hear about him -
the only one sick, out of all of us?"
I
didn't know what she was going to say but I was gob-smacked
at her reply, as it came direct from Heaven, "Ray must have
loved you an awful lot, to go through all that for you! "
They
were speechless, and to this day have never brought it up again!
Do you
know, whenever I think of my Lord Jesus being cursed, laughed at,
punched, battered, flogged and nailed to a cross, I have to say
to myself, "HE MUST HAVE LOVED ME AN AWFUL LOT, TO GO
THROUGH ALL THAT FOR ME! "