The Unseen Life: Part 11

​We often see him walk past our grass-roofed home overseas during the early mornings and evenings. I would smile and nod my head in acknowledgement, and this good-looking and apparently amiable young man, in his 30s, would respond similarly, but he never stopped by, unlike many others whom we got to know better along the way. 
 
One late afternoon, while we were serving local coffee to a few of our neighbours, who had gathered at our porch (our way of chit-chatting to improve our language acquisition and learn about the culture, apart from picking-up on the local gossip), he walked past. A voice said to me, “Pray for him. He’s only got a very short time left.” I turned to one of our closest friends and pointed the young man out as he walked past us. She whispered softly, “He’s the local assassin. Stay away from him!”  
 
A couple of days later, when he passed by a little closer to our home, we exchanged pleasantries and had a brief conversation. Then a week passed, at around midnight, we heard several gunshot rounds being discharged near our home. The next morning, we were told that the young man in question was killed in a gun fight. He left behind a wife and several kids.
 
God’s grace and love for His creation is never doubted, but I am always surprised by His perseverance in attempting to reach out to fallen man (viz., even though many of us do not possess the slightest spiritual interest in maintaining a relationship with Him, or at best a nominal association). Is this the face and behaviour of unconditional love? (c.f., 2 Peter 3:9). When we do catch a transformative perspective of our Divine Seeker on the cross, then perhaps it makes perfect sense for us to die to self. The outpouring of Christ’s unconditional love for anyone, irrespective of relational ties, is contingent on the Christ in us expressing Himself through us. Perhaps it is in this context that our Father always exercise His compassion and mercy towards survivors resulting from His judgments. 

*****
 
He was a fellow colleague at a local church and we were attending an inter-church event one afternoon, seated together at the back of the hall. Out of the blue, a voice prompted, “Speak to Able about his sexual liaison with one of your church’s members.” I was stunned and thought I was mishearing! If there was some error in my 'presumption,' I would probably lose a friend in pursuing the subject. Able is married with two young kids. The repercussions of confronting him on his adultery exploded in my mind as I lost focus on the subsequent sessional proceedings for the rest of the day.
 
At the conclusion of the day's events, while everyone else around us was moving away, the same voice spoke emphatically, “You have a narrow window of opportunity now. Do it!” I plucked up sufficient courage and leant over to Able, whispering into his ear on the issue:
"Able, a little voice told me that you have got to put an end to your sinful relationship." Without acknowledging what I had just said, and not looking in my direction, Able got up and immediately walked away. I was devastated, “Why did You do that, Lord?”
 
“It’s because I love Able and care about his future. Besides, his sin against me, his wife and children, and My sheep, needs attention.”
 
Two weeks went by and Able was obviously avoiding me. Then one late afternoon, as the office was emptying, he walked over to my desk and said he would like to have a private chat with me. We found an empty meeting room. He confessed his liaison of over a year with one of the members under his care. There were lots of tears and regrets.

Apart from us, no one else knew of his misdemeanour. ​Thus began a two years’ journey of accountability, recovery and restoration.