He is not afraid of bad news;
his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. ( Psalm 112:7)
Just when you think life is on an even keel, the news comes in that is bad. For me, it was bad news about my elderly parents who still live in Zimbabwe. It is hard to know where to begin, as there are so many factors that have led to this point, and setting the background is quite difficult, but I will try. Whoever reads this all, thank you for your patience.
My dad worked his entire life, as you do, and saved up a pension, as you do, and even topped up his pension by paying extra premiums, as you sometimes do. The time came for my dad to take retirement, and on the face of it, there was plenty to have a good and decent retirement. At the same time his retirement was due, it was the beginning of many woes in Zimbabwe, and the year 2000 saw a fundamental shift in the stability in the whole nation. It was a real shame, as Zimbabwe had been going from strength to strength, enjoying peace and harmony. I believe the situation in Zimbabwe has been well reported on, so I won't go into the details, but, the decline starting in 2000 was actually very rapid. The economy literally collapsed. I decided to leave with my family and settled in the UK, but my parents wanted to stay, after all, there life was entering the season of retirement and the pensions had kicked in.
Shortly after we left, the value of the pensions my folks were getting was drastically reduced. Deflation of the Zimbabwe Dollar was so rapid that the government had to start printing ridiculous currency notes, such a 100 000 dollar bills. The one pension policy my dad had was reduced to the same value as a loaf of bread. A life time of work just got reduced to a loaf of bread. Words are not enough in situations like that. My folks decided to sell their house and downsize, and it is at this point that God's intervention was obvious and his provision was miraculous. I will write about this in a separate blog, as I do not want to lump the entire story into one blog. Blogs are meant to be short, so I am told, and this is mission impossible for me. The miraculous intervention God provided was a means of income. Not an income to be sneezed at, plus the kindness of others in Bulawayo meant dad could use his expertise in a local law firm, helping with the operational day to running of the office.
Fast forward to the present day. The means of income that has sustained my folks, who have now advanced in age 15 years, so dad is 83 this year, mum will be 80 next year, has come to an end. This was always a possibility, but it became a reality this weekend. This means they are without any income. This means that something has to change, but exactly what is still to be worked out. It is a little like a bomb has gone off and all affected need time to assess the damage and plan how to move forward.
No one is falling apart. No one is rocking in a corner repeating a mantra " what am I going to do" - far from it. What we are doing is remembering, in the face of bad news, we have to trust the Lord. Trust in the Lord is easy when everything is going well, because that trust is lying latent, a little like a muscle that gets used very occasionally, but now, it is being exercised. Suddenly, trusting the Lord is being "stressed tested". The family are praying, relatives are praying, and the church is praying. They are praying that God will intervene, yet once again, in my parents lives and their livelihood. There have been token offers of help, and short term things will be alright, but decisions impacting the long term will need to be made fast. Options will need to be made clear quick.
Whoever reads this, be sure of this. Your prayers are needed. This is the most important starting place in any battle, in any life event. Prayer. Pray for wisdom, pray for options, pray for provision and pray for peace. Above all, pray the God will receive all the glory in this.
