Zechariah 4:10

Deborah Mitchell considers the 14th century proverb

Deborah Mitchell
Deborah Mitchell

My miracle mother just recently turned 80 years young.

All my devoted family gathered excitedly from far and wide to celebrate and honour her. We kept it hush hush so she would be stunned and surprised - although I nearly blew it a few times. It was a great triumph as she walked into my lounge - all of the family was waiting in anticipation. A jubilant moment. Surrounded by her loved ones she was in her element: sons, daughters, grand children and great grand children, happily hugging and kissing their nan.

On the Sunday morning at the church celebration, we placed two chairs facing the congregation, one for Jean my mother and the other for her sister Maureen. They were to share their testimonies, which are intricately interlinked, mind blowing and breath taking in the description of the power of God.

As Jean began to share the amazing things the Lord had done, there was not a dry eye in the place. This lady spoke of her encounters with a Ouija board - a supposed means of contacting the dead, which was a dangerous fashion at that time. Ignorant of the backlash and oblivious to the dangers, Jean went on to explain how darkness entered their lives, having catastrophic effects on both families. Both my mother and her sister were diagnosed with schizophrenia - my mother was sectioned to a psychiatric hospital. Although grateful for the help and support, she knew this was not the answer for her. Desperate in her horrific situation, she cried to Jesus, "If you are there, can you help me?" Jesus heard her anguish and answered in a spectacular way. She was lead to go to a minister who prayed for her and introduced her to Jesus. She was instantly delivered, set free and baptised in the Holy Spirit. A small acorn was born. Never did she have a mental health problem again. Jean became one of the most stable women you will ever meet.

Her sister Maureen took the microphone. She began to share of her horrendous ordeal, how she attempted to get away from the nightmare she was living by taking her own life. Thankfully she woke up from the overdose of drugs. My worried mother was sitting at the end of her bed - with true grit she boldly commanded Maureen to give her life over to Jesus. Maureen wept as she spoke of how good and wonderful Jesus had been to her.

As the morning progressed, people took it in turns to share how Jean had influenced their lives. My nephew was first up stating how his nan had bravely gone into a drug house where he was high on drugs and pulled him out. Now he's in the Kingdom worshipping God. On and on it went, story after story of the influence of this quiet woman.

As I drove her home after this special celebration, I asked her how she felt. She whispered, "It didn't feel like me they were speaking about". We both laughed. "Well it's not you, it's Jesus in you", I said, "but you had to be willing. If you hadn't been there would not have been any of those amazing testimonies glorifying God".

For many years she stood alone - now there are four generations in God's Kingdom. Many, many people have experienced the victory of Jesus in their lives because she took a stand. Just as in the natural, to grow a mighty oak can take years, so it can be in the spirit. God will work through the acorn of your life and turn it into a mighty oak. Do not despise the day of small beginnings, (Zechariah 4:10).

Maybe you are the only one in your family that is serving Jesus, just like my mother. We serve a God who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than we could hope or dream. From an acorn He has caused a mighty oak tree to grow. God is the God of generations, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - or in the case of our family Iain, Iain and Iain - we don't have much imagination with names and seem to recycle them!!

But you get my drift. God is into families. My prayer is that you will not give up. Jesus is there for you - only believe. Take a stand for Jesus and we will be able to look back and say, "Look what the Lord has done".

From the little acorns in our lives God makes mighty oaks to grow.

Rosa Parks - the first lady of civil rights according to the United States Congress said, "Today's mighty oak is yesterday's seed that held it's ground". CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.