By: Obed Pineda
“Yet the righteous will hold his way, and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.” (Job 17:9)
As anyone who has ever prepared and organized any event can tell you, nothing ever goes exactly as planned. There is almost always an unforeseen and uninvited obstacle that threatens to derail months (perhaps even years) of careful preparation. The seasoned planner knows to be ready with contingency options arranged by anticipating possible setbacks. Undoubtedly, much wisdom and diligence is displayed by those who so prepare in everything they plan (cf. Ezra 7:23, Proverbs 22:29). Nevertheless, no matter how well adapted one may be, it is undeniable that when the unexpected happens it can be unsettling and disheartening. For this reason it is essential to also learn how to remain calm in the face of adversity, remembering the exhortation of the beloved Paul who wrote by inspiration, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1st Corinthians 15:58). Naturally, this is much easier said than done when you combine encountering obstacles with exhaustion brought on by long rigorous days. It is true that the first couple of days you may not feel the heavy burden of sixteen hour work days, but after the third or fourth day, the fatigue begins to set in. Thus, it was paramount to remain focused on our purpose for being in Arequipa, knowing that “the LORD God has opened my ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away” (Isaiah 50:5). Indeed, a well-disciplined work ethic was instrumental for the challenging scheduled that we needed to responsibly keep, but successfully achieving this feat for an entire week, in the midst of a series of setbacks, requires endurance and perseverance. The vitality of this truth was clearly manifested to me on the second night of the Gospel meeting, which would have been our fifth day since arriving to Peru. Our efforts of going out into the community and inviting people to join us for that spiritual event had been very fruitful, just not numerically. The turnout was rather low, as it pertained to the size of the crowd, but the interest of those who had responded to our invitation was encouraging. Even though we, collectively, had passed out more fliers than were printed (if my memory serves me right, I believe they had originally printed out about two thousand) the amount of people who decided to attend the Gospel meeting did not reach even a hundred. One reason for this was because the majority of the people whom we invited mentioned to us that they would still be at work while the Gospel meeting and VBS were taking place. Thus, it came as no surprise to us that there would be a low turnout since it was becoming evident that the majority of those whom we passed out fliers to would be indisposed to leaving their jobs early, to come hear the Gospel. If we had solely focused on the numbers, it is undeniable that our hearts would have been filled with discouragement and doubt. Yet, it was necessary to summon into mind that a great multitude had turned away from Jesus after he exposed their true intentions for following Him, with only twelve remaining with Him (cf. John 6:22-69). Eleven of those twelve who chose to continue with the Savior, would later be accused of having “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6) by filling the whole world with the Gospel. Another extraordinary example of victory found in the quality and not the quantity are those who did not walk away from Paul after his discourse at Mars’ Hill (cf. Acts 17:30-34). There a few reasons why I mention that on the second night of our event, the spirit of perseverance was important. The first one being that we needed to focus on those who did arrive more than those who did not, because a few is better than none. Furthermore, the words of the Redeemer still hold true that, “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” and, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:7, 10). These inspired words of God remind us that the focus should be saving the interested, penitent soul more than swelling up the numbers. Ergo, those who did show up were exhibiting this humble and contrite heart and it was indispensable to take advantage of the opportunity by teaching them God’s plan of salvation. Still, there is another reason why the second night reminded me of the value of persevering until the end; literally. Many of those who attended the first night, returned the second night thus proving that they were genuinely invested in their salvation. But, as mentioned at the beginning of this entry, a very unexpected thing happened that tested everyone’s resolve. Midway through the lesson, there was a loud boom from the top of the church building, that shook the entire edifice. Despite this startling sound, our brother continued preaching his lesson, doing his best of keeping the audience engaged and focused on the message of the cross. The explosion, however, was only the beginning of a series of mishaps that followed. Our brother had just prompted us to open our Bibles to a Scripture when suddenly the lights in the building went out, and were asked to please exit the building promptly. The “boom” we had heard had been the propane tank (installed on top of the building for cooking and heating up their water) that had exploded, and was now leaking gas. Due to the exposed electrical wires of the building, this presented the danger of a fire happening if the gas made contact with a possilbe electrical spark from a live wire (i.e. working lights). For this reason, it was best to exit the building until the leak had been stopped and it was safe to return. The amazing thing was that no one left, but rather everyone waited patiently outside. The brethren quickly fixed the problem, and once they had insured that it was safe to return inside, the Gospel meet went on and picked up right from where it had been left off. Had panic arrested our minds, it would have very likely scared off our honored guests, but gratefully our focused goal granted us the stronghold of endurance, shielding our faith from crumbling in that moment of trial. It behooves me to mention that it was not only our confidence in Christ that probably gave those who visited us the confidence to stay, but the camaraderie they observed take place between us when all this transpired as well. Instead of quarreling with one another and pointing the finger of blame as to whose fault this situation was, what our friends witnessed was the mighty bonds of friendship forged by daily fellowship in the Lord, exuded by our lighthearted reaction to what was happening, with laughter and joy, all of us ready to return to the spiritual feast once the setback had been resolved. To be continued…