Devotional by Cherry Lewis: If it is of concern to me, it is of concern to him

Written by Cherry Lewis

“Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” (Deuteronomy 4:9)

The thought came to me a while back that I should make a record of all the wonderful ways in which Father God has spoken to me, rescued and guided me over the years. It suddenly occurred to me that if I didn’t make a record of these treasures, they could remain unknown or lost forever. I really like what Bill Johnson has to say about this: 

“God has given us a treasure in each testimony. Each story is priceless and revelatory in that it speaks of the nature of God and His heart for people. The stories contain the record of His DNA. Treating these stories as wonderful gifts pleases Him.” The basic premise is — God speaks!  

In the Old Testament, the Spirit of God descended on someone for a specific purpose, then lifted. We are partakers of the new covenant; the Spirit of God dwells within us, so He can speak to us as one would speak to a friend. The difference now is that He abides in us. What an unimaginable blessing we have! 

Notebook with the word ‘remember…’ jotted down with a backdrop of beautiful purple flowers

So, here goes!  

Growing up at home, there was never any talk about God. One day my brother, Blake, had a nasty car accident and I remember Dad saying to me “God must have looked after him”. I said “What?” I had never heard the God word in our family, and wondered if I had heard correctly! 

How it all began… 

When I was at Intermediate school, Dad became very ill with kidney problems resulting in high blood pressure and ended up in hospital. I remember Mum being desperately worried. 

She was walking along the road to the local shops, feeling heavy in heart, when she met a friend. Her friend asked her how she was, and Mum told her about Dad in hospital. Her friend said they would pray for his healing at the small church she went to. That morning when Mum went to see him his blood pressure was dangerously low and his skin pale and sallow. Mum was a nurse and recognised how serious this was. She spoke to the matron about it, and had her head bitten off as was the norm in those days! She was so concerned that she went back in the evening and there he was, totally restored. He said, “Oh you needn’t have come back again all this way (by bus).” 

Mum was so grateful that she said to her friend that she would like to go to her church and thank them for praying. So, that was the start of a huge change. She discovered a small church of people who really loved the Lord and walked with Him daily. This was revolutionary after her Catholic background. Dad never actually came to church until later in life, but Mum, Blake, and I did, and this was the beginning of three generations of Christians in our family. 

At a much younger age, I remember going to Keenites (a Scripture Union event). I can still distinctly remember a man talking about Jesus and I was strangely drawn to Him. The man said, if we wanted to ask Jesus into our heart, we could kneel down when we got home and ask Him to come into our heart, and be our Saviour. Subsequently, I often wondered how significant a very early decision like this was, until I went to a course run by Children’s Bible Crusade. They said that in a very high percentage of adult decisions for the Lord, the person had made some sort of decision early in their life. So, it is as if a transaction has been entered into and remains. 

The next stage came when I was at secondary school and went to a Crusader camp. In a group session we were reading that wonderful passage in Isaiah 53 (the gospel according to Isaiah!) The leader suggested that we read it and replace the word ‘our’ with ‘my’:  

He was wounded for my transgression,  
He was bruised for my iniquities.  

This was really the turning point for me in realising that Jesus died for me. 
Now for some of my favourite examples, maybe not in such strict chronological order! 

Angels 

Another time was when I was in the tramping club at university, we were up high in some area of the Southern Alps when suddenly a total fog came down and visibility was virtually nil. I know how dangerous these situations are because we had two or three boys die on these mountains. When the fog came down, I believe God gave me the gift of faith for this situation. I had absolutely no doubt at all that everything would be alright. (Not like my natural panic response!) 

Hiking trail through green forest

Somehow, we got ourselves further down and we met two men (the only time we ever met anyone else in the four years I was doing this). They said they were on a get fit trip for going to the Himalayas, which we thought was very impressive. They were very pleasant and seemed to enjoy being with us. That night we had to sleep in a cave because we couldn’t make it to a hut, and I tell you; it is most unpleasant getting into a sleeping bag in the wet and lying down in an equally wet cave. We all settled down for the night, including one of the men. The other man stayed at the mouth of the cave, sitting upright instead of lying down. I felt as if he was guarding us and it made me feel safe. As years have gone by, I have often wondered if these two men were angels, sent to look after us; I wouldn’t be surprised. 

Another instance that my husband told me about; he sometimes got sleepy when he was driving late in the day. On this occasion, he must have been about to nod off when he saw someone cross the motorway in front of him, which of course jolted him awake. Then he said-they were wearing white and just disappeared when they got to the other side of the motorway! When he said that, I just knew it was an angel, sent to protect him. 

My brother, Blake, has loads of hair-raising stories about situations on the farms where he was working. One time he was going up a plank with a heavy wheelbarrow, when he lost his footing and was heading for a nasty fall when he distinctly felt two hands underneath him, supporting him, and gently lowering him down to the ground (Psalm 91:11-12). 

Occasionally while driving, I have had a near miss and felt clearly that an angel had saved me. 

When I was doing my teacher training course at the College, we went to New Caledonia for two weeks, for the language, and school system. I became friendly with a missionary couple there and we had great times talking about the amazing things God was doing in the 1970s. At the end of the two weeks some of us wanted to stay for another week, but could only do this if we could get a flight back in two weeks’ time. I was very keen to stay and keep up my friendship with this couple. 

We had to wait until after the siesta to go to the airline office. On the way there, I felt this amazing peace, which I know for me is a sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit. 

We went into the office; me and a few others (one of whom had now made a boyfriend there and so was keen to stay!). I went up to the desk first, and he said, sorry, but all the seats for that date had gone. I turned to walk away and as I did so, he said, “the last seat was taken by Mlle Tizard (my maiden name). I whipped round in utter amazement and never found out how that happened. 

Holy Spirit Interceding for Us 

When the boys were young, we went for a holiday to Whananaki. 

On the way back I was driving down the Brynderwyn hills with the four boys and corgi dog in the car. It is very steep and windy and at one stage I thought – I would really have to press hard on the brakes if I wanted to stop. Then suddenly I realised that my brakes weren’t working. I remember instinctively thinking that if I couldn’t get control before the next bend, we could go hurtling to the bottom. I panicked so badly that I couldn’t remember where the handbrake was. 

Wynford was next to me in the front, and I said to him – “Where’s the handbrake?” Poor Wynford must have thought I was losing it! Then the amazing thing was, I found that though I was totally panicking, in my mind I was praying in tongues. Looking back on it, this really amazes me and shows how closely the Holy Spirit watches over us. There was me, not even knowing where the handbrake was, and the Holy Spirit was recognising the danger and interceding for us. We somehow managed to get safely to the edge of the road. 

Later, when we all had a swim at Orewa, I thought it could have been a very different outcome. 

A totally different situation was when Mum didn’t like the look of a mole on my arm and got me off to the doctor. I was about twenty at the time. It turned out to be Melanoma. I know she was worried about it, but I thought it more of an inconvenience until one day I was reading Isaiah 54:9 where it says: “For me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters would never again cover the earth.” This somehow just came out of the blue, but it struck me so forcefully that I knew I would never have that issue again.

Family Prayers 

Two people looking through old photos remembering past moments

Family prayers are powerful, as these next stories show. 

We had some goldfish in a bowl – they were just small, still black and not yet turning gold. 

Someone said it was good to put some lettuce juice in their water. So, I did this but obviously put it far too much. One little fish was in real trouble, rolling onto his back. I went off to school and Mum was concerned that I would be upset to come home and find him dead, so she prayed for him. By the time I got back he was completely healed, right way up and swimming happily around! Mum was so delighted she called him Peter, after the Apostle. Thank you, Lord, you care about a little, baby fish! 

Another situation was when I went flatting in New Plymouth. There were five girls in the flat and the plan for cooking was that we would each cook for the whole of one week. This included desserts. Now they were all dessert enthusiasts, which entailed having a proper pudding.  
Well, Mum, Dad and I always just had Cornflakes and stewed apple or Puffed Wheat and stewed apple. (Mum was always cooking up stewed apples!) As a result, plus the fact that I had been far too pressured doing my MA degree, the result was that puddings were not at all on my radar. 
I must have told Mum about the pudding issue at the flat and, unbeknown to me, she asked God to help me with them. Well, it so happened, the first week that I was on cooking, that the mother of one of the girls came to stay for a week and because she had nothing to do during the day she made puddings. I said to her daughter, when you are on cooking, I’ll do the puddings for you because your mother has done them for me, and she said, No, that’s fine!

Isn’t He amazing!  I sometimes wonder if Father God is smiling at some of our requests! 

In a different vein, one day when Gareth (my son) was quite young and the only one still at home, we were sitting at the table having lunch. I was anxious about a few things and inadvertently sighed. He said, “Why did you go…(Gareth made the sound of a sigh)…? And I said, “I was just thinking about things”, to which he replied, “Jesus knows your thoughts.” So amazing! 

Returning from Japan 

In 1972 we returned after five years in Japan. I had enjoyed it there, but I suffered terribly from loneliness as there were very few foreigners there at that time. I remember thinking how lovely the boys were, (three of my sons were born over there), and how I wished I could show them off to my parents. 

I had a recurring dream that Mum and Dad were walking towards me and just as they approached, they faded away. When we got back, I was basically heading for some sort of breakdown with the combination of the loneliness and heavy feelings of condemnation. 
Someone asked me to go to a service at the Town Hall and I thought – I know God is very real in places like that, and I will get a blast. Thinking like that just shows how far the enemy can knock us back if we listen to his accusations. Well, I went and an amazing thing happened. As soon as they started singing, I clearly heard the unmistakable voice of the Holy Spirit say: “Accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). I was overcome and thought – Wow! Maybe there is hope for me after all. That was the beginning of my being restored. 

Carlson School 

In approximately 1983, I was appointed to Carlson school, where I taught for about 23 years. I had previously taught for short periods at secondary school, but I always felt that was not the place God had for me. So, when the Carlson job came up, I knew that, together with my involvement with Elevate, Christian Ministry for the Disabled, I had finally found the right place. 

One incident that stands out in my mind was a young boy who was a delightful child with quite a sense of humour, who had a degenerative disease with progressive weakness and breathing issues. He would tell you when he needed to be put in a special position to help his breathing. One day he said to me – “What happens when you die?” 

I must admit I was rather caught on the hop and didn’t know quite what to say. A few weeks later, there were just the two of us in the classroom and he said again – “What is it like when you die?” Immediately I heard the Holy Spirit say – “Tell him.” I knew he was a believer, so I told him that because he was a Christian, when he died, he would go to be with Jesus and that would be amazing. Well, probably about two weeks later he passed away and I was so glad to have been able to give him that assurance. 

At the school, I had the job of organising the reading room with all the graded readers and the main thing that happened was that they kept changing rooms, which meant carting all the boxes of books to a new place and setting up again. The last time I did it I just felt that, as a Christian, I would like to make the room look attractive. So, I went off to the Warehouse to buy a vase and some artificial flowers, I had trouble choosing between two flowers because there was something I didn’t care for in both. 

Finally, I said: “Lord, which one do you like?” And immediately he replied – “The sunflowers”. Now I had been looking at two reddish flowers and the sunflowers were up on a higher shelf, where I hadn’t really looked. As soon as I saw the sunflowers, I knew they were just perfect. They didn’t have the imperfections of the other two.

The Dog 

Another incident was to do with: our beautiful dog, Griff. 

We had had her since she was a new puppy, and she was now nearly fifteen. She was a Border Collie cross Labrador, and just amazing. 
It was a Saturday morning, and Blake had just left to go back to Cambridge. Griff was very weak, and she went out to the back of the lawn and lay down, even though it was wet – and she never normally lay down there. It was obviously an animal going away to die. I said: “Lord, what am I going to do?” and He said, “Go sooner rather than later”, by which I knew He meant taking her to the vet. 
So, I went off and it turned out to be perfect timing. We were the last ones there before he closed at midday, and he was so lovely with Griff. Father God even cares about animals, and how much they mean to us. 

Elevate and Elevate Camps 

For the last seven years, apart from this year with the lockdowns, I have taken a group of boys to the Auckland and National camps run by Elevate, the Fellowship for the Disabled. One of the men in our group commented that he always had some sort of supernatural experience at these camps. So, I got to thinking about that. 

One night I was tired but knew there was no chance of getting to sleep early because someone had a late meeting. So, I thought-no use worrying about it. Eventually everyone settled down. I was on a mattress on the floor and then I distinctly felt a hand gently resting on my ankle. The touch conveyed both strength and authority and tender love. I looked around to see if anyone had bumped into me, but of course they hadn’t. 
Over and over, if something went wrong, I would look up and there would be the very person who was able to fix whatever it was. The most striking example was when we were getting a boy in a wheelchair tethered in the van. It was almost done when he announced that he felt sick. This was with a potential three-hour trip back to Auckland and extreme difficulty in reaching him at the back of the van. After thinking my usual “Oh no!”, I looked up and there was the camp doctor walking past. Now she is difficult to find at the best of times and there she was, right by our van. 

Another time, during the worship, the singing seemed to change and soar beautifully around the room. I thought – that is lovely – but it was only when that man from our group said the next day that he heard angels singing, that I realised what I had heard. 

Most times there are always some anxiety-producing situations beforehand. On one occasion I was really concerned about three issues to do with camp preparation. Now, we can usually cope with one or two issues, but by the time it gets to three, it has become overwhelming. I was driving along, feeling very concerned about these things, when I noticed a car in front of me with something written on a bumper sticker. However, it was too far away for me to read. Then the traffic changed and I ended up right behind them. It said: “Relax. God has it all in control.” 

Well, that hit me so strongly that I felt I would have been thrown to the back of the car if it hadn’t been for my seat behind mel! I said to myself – there is no way I can keep on worrying after such a strong message and, sure enough, within about twenty-four hours, each item had been sorted. 
An overriding principle for me at Elevate has been that verse: “Do not withhold good from him to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.” (Proverbs 3:27). 

Job Security 

On a different subject, a few years back, when architectural jobs were at risk, my husband was concerned about whether his job would be secure or not. I settled down to really pray about this, and then I distinctly felt a breeze blowing past my face, which I recognised as the Holy Spirit, and a scripture came to my mind: “You will see it with your own eyes.” His job was safe. 
He knows where things are! 

Lastly, one of my favourite stories is about the flower plaque. 

My daughter-in-law and the girls and I had called into a shop while on holiday, and we decided that I would choose something, and she would then give it to me for Mothers’ Day. I chose a flower plaque.  

Sometime after that, she and the family were coming round for dinner, and I thought it would be good to get the plaque fixed onto the wall. So, I went to the drawer where I knew it was and – no plaque. I then went to a second drawer where I was equally confident it was and still – no plaque. I hunted all over the place and then became concerned about it. One evening, I was cleaning my teeth, and I said: “Lord, if it is still in the house, will you show me where it is”. Immediately, the Holy Spirit said: “In the glove box of the car”. Well, that sounded extraordinary, but I rushed out to the garage, opened the glove box and after a brief search, sure enough, there it was. I couldn’t believe it-how incredible that “the One who created all things and maintains all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3) should even know what was in the glove box of my car. So that plaque is always extra special to me now.  

Before you fall asleep reading all my favourite stories, I want to close my devotional by sharing my desire for all who read this to be blessed beyond measure, 

With love,  
Cherry Lewis 

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