This testimony, written on August 13, 1992, is posted in memory of our dear brother Issam, who passed away on July 20, 2017, one year ago.
Text edited by Petra van der Zande
The school holidays started on July 1st, and my wife and I
planned to travel to the Galilee with the children to visit my family. A few
days later I went to East Jerusalem to return some books which we decided not
to use for our ministry – “the Call of Hope”. After that, I planned to see the
Rabbi of a synagogue, but because it was Friday, the synagogue was closed. I returned home earlier than planned.
My mind and soul is always busy with the work of the Lord. Like all
faithful children of God, my mind is filled with gratefulness -that is what counts
in my life. Therefore, I expect every good thing from the Lord, the least of which
is protection for me and my family.
The moment I entered my house, I found my wife kneeling next to the couch
in the salon with five-year old Jonathan. (I have 3 daughters and one son). The
Lord already showed me signs that He has plans for my son.
But now, Jonathan looked like a slain lamb. “We must immediately call ambulance
and take Jonathan to the hospital,” my wife said. “His leg is broken.”
While playing football with a friend, Jonathan had broken his left femur
bone, just above the knee. It was a complicated fracture, and we spent 12 days
and nights with our little boy in the hospital. The fractured leg had to be
brought back in place with a cast and traction, causing excruciating pain. Nobody
else could sleep because of his suffering.
Jonathan shared his hospital room with a seven-year-old girl and her
father, an orthodox Jew who stayed with her all the time.
“Don’t these trials weaken your faith?” I asked him.
“No,” he responded without hesitating. “Three years ago, one of my
babies, who was only a few months old, died,” he said. “Since that time, I
stopped questioning God why things are happening to me and my family. God
promised us the coming life, not this.”
He told me that his father came from a Haredi family (Haredi means “men
who fear God”). “I am also Haredi,” he explained. “After my father lost his
whole family during the Holocaust, he no longer want to be religious. However,
after having lived in the world for several years, my father decided to return
to God.” Looking at me, he said, “There are many things we don’t understand, so
just leave it all to God and do not think of it anymore.”
When something happens, like my son’s terrible mishap, one begins to
question the love of God. In the book of Psalms, the love of God and His
goodness are described as great. In Psalm 145:7 it is written: “They shall abundantly
utter the memory of thy GREAT goodness. The Bible is full of promises, but these
are for the Righteous who FEAR God.”
After a calamity, a child of God begins to check his conduct, his
deeds, his desires and motives.
“What wrong did I do, Lord?” I asked. “Why did this have to happen to
Jonathan?”
The most terrifying thought however was: “Did God leave me?”
For our Lord Jesus, the most difficult moment of His life on life on
earth was not when He was on the cross, but when He felt abandoned by God. “My
God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” He screamed. (Matthew 27:46)
Upon hearing the Lord’s statement about “eating His flesh and drinking
His blood”, many of His disciples left Him. It was because they did not know
Him. His true disciples however, refused to leave Him. Peter said: “Lord, to
whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68).
In difficult and even desperate situations, a believer who truly knows
the Lord can only say, “Lord, to whom shall we go, when we know You are the
true God.”
Was what happened to my son Jonathan, a temptation?
Was it to test us and strengthen our faith?
Was it punishment?
Was it the Lord’s perfect will to teach us the fear of God?
Whatever the reason was, like Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego we
shall say, “The Lord is able to deliver us... but if not... we will not serve other
Gods.” (Daniel 3:17,18)
And together with Habakkuk we repeat: “Although the fig tree shall not
blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail,
and the fields shall yield no meat: the flock shall be cut off from the fold
and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I
will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength and He
will make my feet like hind’s feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high
place.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19)
About Issam
Issam was born into a Druze family from Rama, Galilee, Israel. Being
very ambitious, he also lived and studied several years abroad. During this period
he went through a very difficult time. Someone gave him a Bible and told him, “Jesus
is alive today! You can ask Him to help you get out of these difficulties.”
After reading about God’s miracles in the Bible, Issam asked God to
help him. By revealing Himself through dreams and visions, God miraculously
brought Issam out of his difficulties. From that time on, Issam didn’t become less
ambitious, but rather more so – he dedicated his whole life to God. The focus
of his life now became studying, living and teaching the ways of God from the
Bible.
Many years later, during Issam’s long illness, this testimony which he
wrote back in 1992, became a source of encouragement for himself and his
family.
The Lord called His faithful servant to His eternal home in July 2017. May Issam’s memory continue to be a blessing and inspiration, to the
glory of God.
