I have traveled in at least 65 countries of the world, but when I travel and speak in the U.S., I find that very few of our members expect God to be big and powerful. Isn’t it time to expect big things from our God? If we are going to cross over into the Canaan Land, isn’t it time to stop looking at the giants and start looking at God? How big is your God?
I recently met a family whose main diet had once consisted of snakes and skunks, which they hunted and killed by using bows and arrows.
Despite their very primitive lifestyle of surviving on a Philippine island, they have a cell phone that one of them takes to the city to charge on occasion. Helen and Romeo are members of the Pureg tribe, and I can tell you with assurance that God has their cell phone number.
One day, our Adventist World Radio (AWR) producer, Pastor Mani, was dialing his aunt, who lives on the island of Mindanao—over a thousand kilometers away—but the person who answered the phone was not his aunt. As a matter of fact, she was a belligerent stranger who was extremely upset by his call! And she lives in the opposite direction, in the foothills of dangerous mountains. Unfortunately for him, or so he thought, it was only the beginning of many “wrong” numbers.
According to Pastor Mani, “After three days of getting connected to the same wrong number, this person called me and said, ‘Why are you calling us all the time—it is three days you are calling.’ She said, ‘Where did you get our number?’” Pastor Mani assured her that he was not actually trying to call her; he was calling other people, and the call kept connecting to her phone!
Pastor Mani continued the story, “At that time, she and her companion were both drunk, so I almost hung up on them because I didn’t like the shouting and foul language. Then she said to me that my voice sounded very familiar. I told her that maybe you have heard the AWR radio program that I produce. Then she said, ‘Yes, we are hearing it.’ She stopped, and I soon heard her crying—the tone of her voice changed from anger to calm as she said, ‘Please come visit us if you are serious about what you are telling us. We have listened to your program for a long time.’”
The pastor was nervous about going to the area, because it is known for its violence. But he gathered his courage, took a friend, and soon began a series of Bible studies with the couple, named Helen and Romeo. The studies started drawing more and more people who had been listening to the radio programs. The family moved from the mountains to a lower elevation and, when they did, other tribesmen joined them. Now, additional tribe members are receiving Bible studies too. The results: 15 baptisms all because of a “wrong” number.
I asked Helen and Romeo, “Is your life different now that you have found Jesus?”
“Yes,” Helen responded. “We were always quarrelling; every night we would drink and fight. If we had not accepted Christ, maybe our children would have killed us.”
That really perked up my attention! I discovered that, for these tribes, it is normal for a family to kill drunken parents who make trouble with the same bow and arrow used to kill animals for food.
According to Helen, “To become SDA Christians was absolutely life changing; life for our children, for the whole family, the way we deal with each other, has changed. Faith in God, service to Jesus has become first!”
Romeo finished by saying, “I will cry if I am separated from my God, I will cry.”
Yes, there is no doubt that God has their phone number, and I’m sure He has yours too.
Just think: He manages the entire universe, along with seven billion people on planet earth. And He is ever arranging events here to save as many souls for His kingdom as possible—you included! I would submit to you that God has your perfect future in His hands. Consider the fact that there are no giants in the land when you are standing on the shoulders of Almighty God!