By Benescke Janse van Rensburg
In a video clip I watched this week, one can see a couple whose 10-month-old baby boy starts choking on a piece of pancake in a restaurant. Initially, the mother slaps the child on the back thinking the pancake will pop out. It does not happen.
As soon as the parents see that the child's eyes are turning and he starts to turn blue in the face, they jump up, desperately calling out for help. On the security camera footage, one can see a restaurant goer a few tables away getting up andwalking to his car. Moments later, he is back with something in his hand. He walks straight to the parents, takes the unconscious baby and places him on a table. Within a few seconds the child can breathe again.
The man placed a device over the baby’s mouth that could suck out the pancake like a vacuum cleaner. The interesting thing is that this man, the hero of the day, already had that device in his vehicle for five years and never used it - until that day!
When we go through challenging situations, it is sometimes difficult to see the value of them. What we must remember, however, is that God knows and determines the future. In Isaiah 46:10 he says: “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” Also, in Romans 8:28 we read: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him . . .”
The challenging things we have to deal with today (the death of a loved one, the diagnosis with an illness, your child with special needs, financial loss, retrenchment at work or even a divorce), may well be that which fills us with wisdom and empathy to assist someone else at the greatest crossroads in their own lives in the future.
The benefactor drove around with the device for five years. Was it a coincidence that he was sitting a few tables away from that family that morning in that restaurant? Did God perhaps place him there to save the child's life? We will never know. God bless.
Father God, thank you so much that I can entrust my life to You. Help me to pass the character tests so that I can be a useful tool in Your hands. I ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Picture: See video I referred to at
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