There was a woman, who went to Singapore to pick her mother to go to the Philippines for her mum to relax as her mum was always stressed out and frustrated because of all the work she had to do at home. When the woman met her mum at the airport on the way to Philippines, she noticed that her mum's face was glowing. Her mum was more joyful and happy. When she asked why, her mum said it's because she found Jesus Christ. She was shocked and immediately told her mum not to tell her about Jesus Christ and that she'll never trust in Him. So her mum just said that she wouldn't. This was because she didn't know much about Him although she did learn a little bit when she was younger.
When they arrived there, they went to live on one of the islands where there was no electricity, no communications whatsoever as to relax. So she wanted to visit the natives which lives on the other side of the island. But they couldn't walk there. They had to take a boat. She went to rent a boat and there was a motorboat but the guy wouldn't let her rent it. So instead, he gave her vessel which was only made out of one thick piece of wood and one plank at the bottom and top. She said she tried to sit in it but she couldn't as it was too small. So she sat on top of it and paddled.
So the woman and her mum sat on the vessel and she paddled at the direction of the natives living place. The scenery was great and the water was clear and the creatures in the water could be seen. As soon as her mum saw the giant stingray, she demanded to be brought back to the original place. So the woman listened and brought her back but still wanted to go see the natives. So she left alone. Because there was islands around the place she was at, so there were no cross waves as the waves were being blocked.
As she paddled around the island, she reached a part where the waves weren't being blocked anymore so there were cross waves. She got trapped in it and no matter how hard she paddled, she couldn't go the direction of the natives as the waves were pushing her away. She was stuck! So she decided to jump into the water and swim towards the natives' island as the sky was also getting dark. When she was about to jump, she heard a voice saying "Do not jump!". At first she thought it was her husband that had come to rescue her. But when she turned around, there was no one. She decided not to obey the voice because she thought she would die if she stayed on the small vessel and again she decided to jump into the water and she heard the voice again, loud and clear this time, saying "Do not jump!".
This time, she started thinking and she looked into the sky and asked "God, is that really You?". And then strong winds started blowing and a storm came. The waves were very rough and her vessel overturned and she was thrown off it. So she quickly swam towards the vessel as hard as she could as she had to fight the waves and held on to it. She tried to turn it back upright but she couldn't. Then, she started thinking that she doesn't want to die and that she doesn't want to go to hell but heaven. Then she began to think about what she had learned about God. The only thing she remembered was the verse "Jesus is the way, the truth and the life." Which she learned it in a Catholic Sunday School which her dad sent her to when she was young. Then she spoke to God and said "If you're really God, please help me to know You more so that I can go to heaven." So God gave her the strength to hold on and she lasted till the next day.
While she was still holding on, she did not know that she was bleeding. So this attracted the sharks. She saw the sharks swimming towards her and she quickly cried out "God, help me!" and God replied her saying "I want a 100% faith from you" and she said "okay, I'll give you a 100% faith." And she constantly heard God saying "A 100% faith". The sharks continued to swim towards her and when they were near her, they just made a U-turn and left and never came back. She was very tired.
On the 3rd day, she told God "I do not want to stay here another day, I am very tired. I have a 100% faith that you will send someone to rescue me". After that, she say a fishing boat slowly going by her but she couldn't see anyone on the boat and the boat just passed her. She asked God, "please God, let someone on that boat see me." And when she looked again, she saw a guy standing there and he started to wave at her. Then she waved back and the guy waved even harder and he called all his other buddies out and they all waved at her. She was so grateful that the guy saw her there. So she signaled for the guy to come and get her. But the guy signaled for her to swim to the boat. She was really tired but she still swam towards the boat.
When she got there, she was hoping that they would throw the float for her and pull her up. But instead, they just threw a rope down and wanted her to climb. So she climbed but after that she asked the guys to pull her up which was a bad idea. When were pulling her up, she was sliding through all the rust on the side of the ship so in the end she decided to just climb. She was really happy that she was rescued.
This story was told by a woman called Michelle Hamilton. Her story was published in Reader's Digest. I do not know which year but God is really amazing. He knows what we are capable of because even though she was tired, God knew that she still could swim and climb up the boat herself. She wasn't a believer at first, but look at what God did. She finally believed in Him and it's all because of God's grace. =) Thanks Miss Sonia for sharing this story with us. =)
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