
I have written previously about the recent devastating explosion at the port in Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon, and the story of one Greek Orthodox Priest’s experience that particular day.
I’ve also been keeping my eyes and ear open for other similar stories, as they have been emerging in recent weeks, and this one has stood out.
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On the day of the explosion, a Tuesday afternoon, the building belonging to the Life Center Church in Beirut is full. Refugees from Syria are receiving food parcels. Children are being taught. Preparations are being put in place for that evening’s discipleship classes. All the church’s daily midweek activities are in full swing, with several hundred people gathered in the building in the usual way.
But the Lebanese pastor who leads the church, is sensing a deep unease in his spirit.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” he later reveals, “but I felt that something bad was going to happen. We started praying and praying, but we didn’t get a breakthrough … So I told everyone to go home, and come back on Sunday, and I just closed the building. It was like the Holy Spirit saying, ‘Go! Go! Go!’ So I literally forced them to leave.”
The church was less than two miles from the site of the blast. Many would have died if they had remained in the building that afternoon.
Instead, they are all safe.
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To hear this pastor’s incredible testimony, please watch this Sat7 interview with him here:
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If you are a Jesus follower, are you listening to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit, nudging you to listen? And if you are, how willing are you to act on what He is saying, and to trust and obey, even when it makes no sense? Please feel free to leave a comment below.
2 Comments
There are some amazing stories coming out of the devastation and horror of the Beirut explosion. The enormous losses that so many thousands of people have faced can’t be ignored but to see ‘light through the cracks’ – small glimmers of hope amongst the ruins – are a good reminder of God’s presence in that place of brokenness. xx
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