June 25 – A Garment of Praise
Isaiah 61:3: And provide for those who grieve in Zion– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.
Sometimes, life is not easy being born into a difficult home immersed in problems. Young children especially are more disturbed and traumatized to leave marks forever. However, if one turns to God, He transforms our pain and sorrow to the oil of joy when we walk closely with Him wearing the Garment of Praise: Such is the testimony of Dimply Koshy Sony. She was born into a family of 6, her parents and three older brothers, in Kolkata. While her early days were happy, in time she would witness family quarrelling which would turn violent from her father. She was deeply disturbed by this. One holiday, when she was a teenager, they were in Kerala, she was invited to a church. She never liked going to church as she found it very boring. She went however and was deeply moved when she walked into the church. She remembered kind faces and lovely smiles, few came up to her and told her that they were very happy to see her and had been praying for her. She felt very loved! She wanted to come back the following Sunday. This was the beginning of something God was doing, which she wasn’t aware.
As she started coming every Sunday, one Sunday, the sermon touched her heart when the pastor told how Jesus died for our sins and when He was carrying the Cross, He was thinking of each one of us, His love for us made Him carry the Cross and go through all the pain He did. That went deep into her wounded, dark, empty heart. That evening, she prayed in her room at the edge of her bed, asking Jesus to forgive all her sins and to come into her heart and make her His child. That was the beginning of a great journey with Him. She felt an incredible presence of Love, tears rolled down her eyes and she had a new desire and hunger to know this Jesus. This love of Calvary started doing something deep in her heart.
Things at home became worse, her dad wouldn’t allow her to go to church with mom, he wanted them to go only to his orthodox church and not the believers church. He would get rough with her and even threw her Bible one day. She felt shattered yet strong inside. She was in love with God’s word and read it every day. God started instilling courage inside of her. She started to voice out her objection every time her dad would try to harm mom. This surprised him as no one ever did that to him. He ordered her mom and her to leave the house and they did, they lived in their neighbor’s house for a few days and then returned again. Her mother is an iron-lady of faith and prayers! They started praying much along with many others. Her brothers had become alcoholics and violent. But they all went to the rehab with the help of some friends. God started adding supportive people into her life. Her old friends couldn’t believe it’s the same old girl. Later she got married and they have two children now. Her husband ministers to her family and he is a pastor.
This young lady learned how to worship God and turn to Him in her distress. Filled with His joy and worship, she put on the Garment of Praise and her situation and family changed gloriously!
Comments