Mathav's fairy tale
Mathav is Vani’s husband. Chrish has already blogged about Vani here. On 30th of December 2009, we had the opportunity to visit their home. Actually they do not have a home for themselves yet and are accommodated in the home of another believer. The occasion was a thanks giving prayer meeting and the event was Mathav obtaining his visa. If you remember the previous story you would remember that they had to obtain their Australian visa before Dec 31, 2009 since after that day they would have to leave the country until their visa is approved. You would also remember that Vani had accepted Christ Jesus into her life during this period and how she told Chrish the following points.
1. She knows that God is in control of her life
2. Whether they get the visa or not should not make any change in her attitude to life since she has "real" joy in her and circumstances cannot change that joy
3. The fact that God controls her life means that she can relax and let God work the way He wants to in her life.
Here is someone who has just committed her life to Christ Jesus and has started to read God’s words, the Holy Bible. I am a sure that she was not familiar with passages like:
Mt 6:31-33 Don't worry and ask yourselves, "Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?"
Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these.
But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.
Habakkuk 3:17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
John 14:27 I [Jesus Christ] give you peace, the kind of peace that only I [Jesus Christ] can give. It isn't like the peace that this world can give. So don't be worried or afraid.
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But still God has taught her a lot of them through her experience with Lord Jesus Christ. That is why I always emphasize the fact that true Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with the true God. If Christianity is just a religion or philosophy someone should have taught her all these things first or she should have read them herself. How else would she know? But the fact that she knew all this by experience with the Lord Jesus Christ shows that she was dealing with a living God & God was teaching her. Let me illustrate this to you with an example. If you quote something about William Wordsworth someone might ask you in which poem he said that or where did you read about it. The reason for this is the only acquaintance you have with William Wordsworth is through his writing or the writings about him. You need to know them to know him and his ideas. But if you happen to be his friend when he was alive, then you do not necessarily need to know his writings to know him. Your friendship with him would have taught you a lot about him. This is called personal knowledge. The same is true with true Christianity. It is not knowledge from a set of books and doctrines but a relationship with the true and living God. That does not mean that you do not need the Bible at all. But the truth is that the Bible is no longer just a book like any other book but a living Book since God talks to you through the Bible. Chrish too is a primary example of this experience. Today she tells that when she first got saved she didn't know the Bible much but she knew a lot of things that the Bible talked about which she today knows is in the Bible. How she came to know those things is a mystery but it happened soon after she decided to walk with Christ Jesus. Don't you want a relationship with the true God who created you? It does not matter which religion you belong to, the fact is there is only one true God and you can have a personal relationship with this true and living God. Whoever you may be, if you do not currently enjoy a living relationship with your creator God I invite you do start it right away.
All you need to do is to say a prayer like:
"Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I invite you into my life and receive You as my Saviour and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."
Please remember that there is no magic in this prayer and what really matters is that you say such a prayer with true meaning from your heart. In fact you can accept your sinful state and accept Christ Jesus into your life in your own words.
Well coming back to the story: Mathav is from a farming background and he is the only literate in his family. He was able to obtain his degree but his father wanted him to help him after his studies. But Mathav had the desire to go abroad, which his father didn't approve nor support. The important thing he needed to go abroad was finance. It was then one of his friends (much younger to him) offered to give him 15,00,000 Indian rupees (about 30,000 AUD) just like that without any conditions or guarantees. That made it possible for him to come to Australia for higher studies. While he was in Australia he was supported a lot by some brothers from our Fellowship and they also gave him the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But at that time he was not receptive (though he finally accepted Christ in to his life). Life went on and later he went back to India got married and returned to Australia. He was also working part time to support his studies. But last December was the crucial point in his life. But again God intervened and sorted things out for him to obtain the visa before the deadline. Currently he has got a good job in his specialized field (which he never expected) and is following the Lord. When I look at his story especially the part where a small boy offering him AUD 30,000 just like that and so many other miracles (some I have not shared) it is like a fairy tale. But when I look at it in eternity perspective I can clearly see that God did all this to reveal Himself to him & Vani. Our God can design grand master plans to save a soul. He is not limited in resources and any such thing. Our plans are always limited but not God's. Mathav's story is just one example. When our God plans no one can derail His plan. He can change circumstances, people and everything else to make sure His plan goes through just as He planned.
Do you realize that God has a perfect plan for you. Don't you like to become a partner in His grand plan for you? Would you welcome Christ Jesus into your life today?
