February 14 - Cindy Mah
The lover of our soul
“…I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31.3 NIV
Sharing our faith in Christ with our extended family is hard. After getting married to Henry, I started praying for the salvation of his parents and families. It was hard to share my faith in Christ with my In-laws because of language barrier and generation gap.
My In-laws were from Southern China and they practiced ancestral worship. They burned incense and prayed to their ancestors. I felt very inadequate to give them the gospel since my Chinese (Cantonese) was at a baby first grade level. So, I tried to give my mother-in-law Mei Han a gospel tract in Chinese, she would just hand it right back to me without looking at it, signaling that she was not interested.
As I continue to pray faithfully for her and the family’s salvation, my faith was tested. When my son Wesley was born along with his American name, I gave him a Chinese name, which meant ‘much faith’. For this I was criticized by Mei Han, and my husband’s side of the family. I was berated that it was not my place (or my mom) to give the Chinese name, that right belonged to a husband's parents. I was so hurt from this, I cried for 3 days.
When we pray for others, Satan will counter attack. Our love will be on trial. If I do not forgive it will drive apart our family relationships. A relationship with us is what Jesus died for (John 17.3), I accepted the Chinese name Henry’s parents gave my son, which meant ‘much riches’. Well, my son is definitely spiritually rich in Jesus, eternally rich.
After praying decades for my relatives, I did get dishearten at times; they did not seem open - especially my mom-in-law, she seemed so set in her ways, steeped in her ancestral worship. I had to fight the false guilt trip that if I was a better witness, they might accept Christ. Sharing the gospel is not based on the power of my performance but on the power of the Holy Spirit.
Fast forward to 2016, my mother-in-law Mei Han was 94 years old, she was hospitalized with failing health and in a coma. Even though she was not able to communicate with us, we knew she can still hear. The Lord gave me the wisdom to use the iPhone to play Psalm 23 in Cantonese, I also found some Chinese hymns and played it for her. Praise God for technology.
A Chinese Pastor was asked to come to the hospital and give the gospel to Mei Han. After he gave the gospel, he asked her for a response. She nodded YES. My sister-in-law was there and could NOT believe this so she asked the Pastor to make sure she understood. Mei Han emphatically shook her head in affirmation to accepting Jesus the second time. I was beside myself, knelt on the floor crying lifting my hands glorifying God.
That day when my mother-in-law Mei Han accepted Jesus in the hospital was Feb 14, Valentine’s Day 2016!!! Mei Han met the LOVER of her soul. She finally accepted the greatest everlasting love in Christ. The God who pursued her all her life until the end, drawing and melting her heart with His love. She went into Jesus’ loving arms a few days later.
We love imperfectly but our God loves perfectly. He proved His love for us on the cross, while we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us. To the extent of how much he suffered on the cross for us is the extent of how much He loved us.
Oh, that we may worship God in the sanctuary of our hearts for the undeserved, unrelenting, immeasurable love that our feeble minds cannot comprehend! May we love Him for who He is. Our devotion is the only thing He desires that He will not make us give Him.
“This is real love, not that we loved God but He loved us and sent His son to be the sacrifice to take away our sins.” 1 John 4:10 NLT