It’s an afternoon in early autumn, and I have gathered to meet with a small group of people in the home of mutual friends.
When our meeting draws to a close, I notice an older man sitting across from me, his forefinger swathed in bandages. So when he gets up to head towards the door, I nod towards his finger.
“What’s happened to your finger?” I ask.
Out tumbles a traumatic tale of how he was unexpectedly bitten by a stranger’s dog; how it resulted in his fingertip being sliced in two; and how the bandages are providing protection, while the broken bits of flesh fuse together again.
“Interestingly, it happened just after I left the house of a friend, a Sikh, who I had been talking to at length about Jesus,” he tells me, “so it felt profoundly spiritual.”
I nod to indicate that I agree it probably was – and then I sense an oh-so-familiar surge of courage and compassion rising up within me.
“Shall I pray for your finger?” I offer.
“Sure,” he says, and I proceed to call on Jesus to heal this man’s damaged digit.
Nothing obvious seems to happen.
However, we continue to talk, and story after story come pouring out. All of them demonstrate how God has brought his ‘light through the cracks’ into seemingly impossible situations. And one of them is so faith-raising that it grabs my attention, so I share it here with permission …
***
The older man’s name is Joe.
For many years in the 1980s and 90s, he and his wife Heather were missionaries in Papua New Guinea, where they raised their family.
Papua New Guinea is an island nation, in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, to the north east of Australia. It’s an archipelago that comprises approximately 600 main islands, and many more small ones. To the west of these islands is Indonesia; to the east are the Solomon Islands.
During the time when Joe and Heather lived in Papua New Guinea, they worked alongside a number of pastors, seeking to reach some of the archipelago’s many people groups with the good news of Jesus.
One of these was called Pastor Luke and, one afternoon, he was spending some time with the Lord.
“As he was praying that afternoon,” Joe tells me, “Pastor Luke sensed God telling him to go to one of the small islands, about half a mile away, where there would be a coconut wine party taking place that night.” Joe pauses for a moment, before continuing. “God showed Pastor Luke that he was to take the church worship leaders with him and, together, they were to evangelise the people at the party.”
Knowing that he needs to obey what God is asking of him, Pastor Luke goes and gathers the worship leaders together.
“Guys, get ready,” he says, “This evening, we’re going to go across to the island over there, and we’re going to tell them about Jesus, because God has shown me there are people there who he wants to reach.”
Later that day, just as dusk is falling, Pastor Luke makes his way to the beach, where some of the young men from his church have gathered with their guitars. But as they look up and down the beach, they quickly realise that all the boats have gone over to the island to take people to the party.
“Quite simply,” Joe tells me, “there were no boats to take them across the half mile of sea between the beach and the island.”
Undeterred, Pastor Luke prays.
“Lord, what do we do now?” he asks, “You’ve told us to go over to that island tonight, but we’ve got no boats to get there.”
Immediately, the Lord responds: “Do you see the moonbeams on the sea?” he says, “That’s your path.”
The musicians holding their guitars are concerned, but Pastor Luke reassures them.
“Follow me,” he says, striding out purposefully towards the water’s edge, aiming in the direction of the moonbeams marking out the route across the surface of the sea.
The others follow his lead.
“The water got ankle deep,” Joe tells me, “and it inexplicably stayed ankle deep across the whole half mile of sea.”
“Wow!” I exclaim, my mind trying to grasp what he’s telling me.
Over on the island, the party is in full swing.
But the young men simply take their guitars and sing worship songs as the Holy Spirit leads, while the pastor speaks of Jesus and the difference he makes in our lives. Together, they minister to the people until about 2 am.
By the time they have finished praying for the final person, and Pastor Luke has gathered the others together to head back home, the beach is deserted.
Once again, all the boats are over on the other side, having returned people home at the end of the party.
Once again, Pastor Luke prays: “Lord, what do we do now?”
Once again, the Lord responds, pointing out that the moon has moved its position overhead. “Do you see the moonbeams on the sea?” he says, “That’s your path.”
Once again, Pastor Luke calls out, “Follow me”, before leading the way, the others following, each carrying their guitar.
Once again, the water is inexplicably ankle-deep for the entirety of the path carved out for them by the moonbeams.
“When they got back to the main island, they gave glory to God,” Joe tells me, “and then they headed home to bed.”
He pauses for a moment, deep in thought, before continuing: “Luke only shared that story with us once, and he asked us not to share it with others. He always said he wanted Jesus to be honoured, because it was Jesus alone who enabled them to walk on water that night. But now that Luke has died, we are free to share it.”
I couldn’t agree more with Pastor Luke’s sentiment: all honour goes to Jesus for this incredible miracle!
***
As you ponder this incredible ‘light through the cracks’ story, let me ask you this:
Do you believe that Jesus is still the same – yesterday, today and forever – and that he can do the same miracles now as are recorded in the Gospels? If you struggle to believe it, why might this be?
Have you ever spent time with the Lord, where you’ve sensed him asking you to do something specific, only for an obstacle to get in the way? If this is you, how did you handle it, and how did God remove the obstacle to enable you to do what he asked?
As always, constructive comments are welcome below.
Photo by Gusman Barquin via Unsplash
