God's Hand

Soon, we will be celebrating the birth of our Savior; the Bible says that His name would be called "Emmanuel," which means "God with us." We can be confident that He goes with us and can recognize His hand working around us and upon us. Isaiah 43 provides this reminder:
1 But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.
3 For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior...

The medic on a battlefield attempted to save a man who had encountered a landmine.  As he began to assist, the soldiers around him dropped to the ground and informed him that there was a tripwire underneath him.  That action by his colleagues may have saved his life.

According to a God Reports story of a Burmese medic named Aung Gyi: "Even though God saved him, Aung Gyi didn’t yet know God." But, he had called out to God as he moved to help the man I had referred to.

The article says:

When he joined the rebellion against the military dictatorship that opposed democracy in Myanmar, Aung Gyi described himself as a cultural Buddhist. He was born in Sagaing, near Mandalay where he grew up. He lost both his parents as a young man.

He joined the resistance to the 2021 military coup.  The article goes on to report:

As a medic, Aung joined the Freelance Volunteer Myanmar (FVM) group helping Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs), which are refugees of war who stay in their country as opposed to finding refuge in another country.

He was dispensing medical supplies and doing children’s programs when he met the Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian group helping IDPs led by Dave Eubank.

Aung is quoted as saying: “I think he prays a lot and that’s why he hasn’t gotten injured on the frontline,” adding, “So I started asking my girlfriend because I was curious about that. My girlfriend was so happy and we started reading the Bible together. Dave Eubank inspired me a lot. When I graduated from Ranger training, Dave said ‘Pray, think, act’ and so I wrote it down. Whenever I went back to the frontline I always thought about this.”

God was moving in Aung's life - Dave provided a truck for him in response to a prayer. And, God saved his life once again, according to God Reports, which relates:

The third time was in November 2023. He was driving a truck with 25 IDPs and some Rangers in Loikaw, the capital of Karenni, when he came under fire from rockets and machine guns.

“I remembered I needed to do one thing – I needed to pray,” Aung relates. “The Rangers shouted that the jet fighter was diving. I was yelling in my mind ‘God please help me’ and suddenly I stepped on the brake. Bullets came three feet in front of my truck.

“The IDPs were crying, and I just drove fast to get away,” he adds. “The Rangers were shaking, and I grabbed their hands and prayed with them. I said we need to thank God because we are still alive.”

It was time to stop wavering and wondering about God. It was time to make a decision to follow Christ.

He called his girlfriend and said, “I want to get baptized...“Because of God I am still alive.” They were both baptized and soon thereafter, they were married.

The Free Burma Rangers website notes:

Recently, Aung Gyi helped with a medical training for frontline aid workers. He helped to facilitate many worship events for the students. “Every worship night I want to show young people that Jesus is real and you just have to ask him. He’s real. Every night at worship I am so happy. It feels so powerful for me. Even some Christians they forget to pray and connect with God. You don’t need a long prayer – just ‘God help me’ and ‘God be with me.'”

Now as a Christian, life still has many challenges, but Aung Gyi says his goal is to “try to share my life with my people and give love to my enemies.”

We can evaluate the ways that God is getting our attention.  Aung was praying, but he had not yet given his life to Christ.  But, God in His mercy, was responding to him.  He sent Dave Eubank, a man of God, to teach Him about Jesus.  We can acknowledge the abundant love and grace of God moving in a person's life to draw Him to Christ, and pray for tender hearts and obedient servants to minister the Word of God to those who don't know Him.

For the believer, we can develop a sense of knowing when the Holy Spirit is leading.  We should always maintain a top-of-mind awareness that God is with us, and we can continue to train ourselves to recognize the leading of the Spirit.  We can be confident that through the circumstances of life, the hand of God is moving, drawing us closer to Himself.