[AkhirZaman.org] Ada seorang tentara Amerika yang melayani Tuhan berdiri di pinggir jalan untuk mencari tumpangan ke kota Chicago di Illinois. Sebenarnya perbuatan “hitchhiking” ini melanggar hukum dan sangat berbahaya, tetapi tidak ada alternatif lain bagi tentara ini kecuali melakukan hal itu.
Tiba-tiba sebuah limousine warna hitam menghampiri tentara itu dan memberikan tumpangan. Tentara dan pemilik limousine tersebut saling berkenalan (siapa namanya, asalnya dari mana, kerja di mana, dsb) dan tiba-tiba Roh Kudus membisikkan dalam hati tentara ini untuk membagikan berita mengenai keselamatan di alam Kristus kepada pemilik limousine ini. Tentara itu menolak bisikan Roh tersebut, karena pikirnya, masakan saya habis melanggar hukum tiba2 memberitakan Kristus, dan terlebih lagi karena tentara ini TAKUT dipukuli pemilik limousine ini dan diturunkan di tengah jalan.
Tapi bisikan Roh Kudus tersebut sedemikian kuat sehingga tentara ini tidak tahan lagi dan berkata kepada pemilik limousine ini, “Pak… boleh nggak saya menanyakan masalah pribadi?”
“Oh, boleh saja,” jawab Bapak ini, “Pertanyaan apa?” “Kalau misalnya Bapak meninggal dunia besok pagi, Bapak kira-kira akan masuk surga atau masuk neraka?” “Kamu tahu nggak?” jawab Bapak ini, “Sesaat sebelum saya memberimu tumpangan, saya juga tiba-tiba memikirkan hal itu, dan saya pikir kalau saya mati besok, saya akan masuk neraka.” “Bapak mau nggak saya beritahu caranya masuk surga?” tanya tentara ini. “Oh, tentu saja mau,” jawab Bapak itu.
Tentara itu lalu mulai membagikan berita keselamatan mengenai Yesus Kristus dan menantang Bapak ini untuk menerima Yesus Kristus sebagai Tuhan dan Juruselamat pribadinya. Bapak itu bersedia menerima Yesus, dan ia menghentikan mobilnya di pinggir jalan dan mengajak tentara itu membimbing dia berdoa untuk menerima Yesus sebagai Tuhan dan Juruselamatnya. Air mata meleleh di pipi Bapak ini. Ia mengatakan, “kamu tahu nggak? Malam ini kamu sudah melakukan hal yang sangat besar bagi hidup saya, saya nggak akan pernah melupakan apa yang kamu sudah lakukan bagi hidup saya Chicago, ketika tentara ini mohon diri (turun dari mobil), Bapak itu memberikan satu kartu nama sambil berkata, “Ketahuilah… hari ini anda sudah melakukan hal yang sangat penting dalam hidup saya. Kapan-kapan kalau main ke Chicago hubungilah saya di alamat ini.” dan tak lama kemudian mereka berpisah.
Waktu lima tahun sudah berlalu dan tentara ini kemudian kembali berkunjung ke kota Chicago, dan ia ingat akan kartu nama yang diberikan oleh Bapak pemilik limousine ini kepadanya. Tentara ini ingin tahu kabar mengenai Bapak tersebut, dan ia datang ke alamat yang tertera di kartu nama tersebut, dan ia sampai ke sebuah gedung pencakar langit kantor pusat sebuah perusahaan raksasa di Amerika Serikat. Ia memberikan kartu tersebut kepada satpam, dan satpam itu sangat terkejut dan bertanya, “Dari mana kamu dapatkan kartu ini?” Tentara itu menjawab, “Yang empunya kartu itu sendiri yang memberikannya kepada saya.” sehingga satpam itu menjawab, “Kamu naik ke lantai paling atas, sampai sana belok kiri dan kamu tanya pada sekretaris yang ada di sana.”
Tentara itu naik ke lantai paling atas dan memberikan kartu nama itu kepada sekretaris yang ada di sana yang juga sangat terkejut, “Dari mana anda dapatkan kartu ini?”
Jawab tentara itu, “Wah… panjang ceritanya… tapi beliau sendiri yang memberikannya kepada saya.” “Bapak ini sekarang tidak ada di sini…apakah anda ingin bertemu dengan istrinya?” “Boleh”, jawab tentara itu, dan ia dipertemukan dengan istri Bapak itu yang adalah Presiden Direktur dari perusahaan raksasa tersebut. “Dari mana kamu peroleh kartu ini?” tanya ibu (istri) tersebut.
Tentara itu menceriterakan ihwal pertemuannya dengan Bapak itu dan bagaimana Bapak itu menerima Yesus sebagai penyelamatnya. Mendengar itu semua meledaklah tangis Ibu tersebut. Ia menceriterakan bahwa tak lama sesudah menurunkan tentara itu, limousine tersebut memperoleh kecelakaan yang sangat fatal yang menewaskan Bapak tersebut. Ibu itu mengatakan bahwa bertahun-tahun ia berdoa supaya suaminya diselamatkan, dan ia mengira bahwa suaminya meninggal tanpa diselamatkan, sehingga ia begitu marah kepada Tuhan dan meninggalkan gereja dan pelayanannya.
Apa yang dilakukan oleh tentara itu adalah hal yang paling penting yang pernah terjadi dalam hidup Bapak itu, tetapi hal yang tidak kalah penting lagi ialah CARA Allah mengabulkan doa ibu itu.
Ibu itu sadar bahwa Allah BEKERJA di dalam doa2 yang disampaikannya TANPA memberitahu Ibu tersebut bahwa doanya TELAH DIKABULKAN TUHAN.
Dari kisah ini kita bisa belajar:
HARUSKAH Tuhan itu memberitahu kita apabila Ia bekerja dalam rangka mengabulkan doa-doa kita?
TIDAKKAH mata iman kita itu bisa melihat bahwa di balik doa
yang SEPERTINYA tidak dikabulkan oleh Tuhan itu TERNYATA Tuhan bekerja untuk mengabulkan doa2 kita?
Sedemikian cepatnyakah kita MENUDUH bahwa Tuhan itu tidak setia, Tuhan itu berbohong, Tuhan itu tidak menjawab doa-doa kita, dan Tuhan itu tidak berkenan atas doa-doa kita?
HARUSKAH Allah itu mengabulkan doa kita dengan cara yang SESUAI dengan cara yang kita sodorkan kepada Tuhan? Apakah kita sudah sedemikian “dijangkiti” oleh “doa instan” yang “harus dikabulkan hari ini juga”,”harus dikabulkan tahun ini juga” dan lain sebagainya?
Decided this was the kind of site I would defend in a discussion about good blog content, and a stop at pixelharborhub reinforced that, very few sites earn active defence rather than passive consumption and this one has clearly crossed that threshold for me without needing any explicit pitch from the writers themselves either.
Picked up on several small touches that suggest a careful editor, and a look at clarityleadsaction suggested the same hand at work across the broader site, editorial consistency at a granular level is one of the strongest signs that an operation is serious rather than just hobbyist and this site reads as serious throughout.
A small editorial detail caught my attention, the way headings related to body text, and a look at nightlifehub maintained that careful relationship, structural details like that show up to readers who notice them and the writers here have clearly thought about every level of the piece rather than just the words.
Now planning to write about the topic myself eventually using this post as a reference, and a look at activehorizon would also serve in that future piece, content that becomes raw material for my own writing rather than just informing my reading is content with multiplicative value and this site is generating that multiplicative effect.
If patience for careful reading is rare these days finding sites that reward it is rarer still, and a stop at actionpathway extended that rare reward, the diminishing returns on shallow content reading have made me more selective about where to spend reading time and this site is meeting the higher selectivity bar consistently.
Probably going to mention this site in a write up I am working on later this month, and a stop at focusunlockspath provided more material for that potential mention, content worth referencing in my own published work rather than just personal reading is content with the highest endorsement level and this site has earned that endorsement.
Now adding the writer to a small mental list of voices I want to follow, and a look at directionturnsideas reinforced that follow intention, the few writers whose work I actively track are writers who have demonstrated sustained quality and this writer has clearly demonstrated that sustained quality across the pieces I have sampled here today.
Reading this back to back with a similar piece elsewhere made the quality difference obvious, and a stop at buildclearprogress only widened the gap, comparing content side by side is a useful exercise and the gap between this site and average competitors in the space is large enough to be noticeable from the first paragraph.
Closed my email tab so I could read this without interruption, and a stop at claritypowersresults earned the same protected attention, when content is good enough to defend against the usual digital distractions you know it deserves better than the half attention most online reading gets in a typical busy day.
Now thinking about how this post will age over the coming years, and a stop at ideasintoflow suggested the same durability, content built to age well rather than to capture the attention of the moment is content with a different kind of value and this site has clearly chosen the long horizon over the short one.
Found a couple of useful angles in here I had not considered before reading carefully, and a quick stop at focusgeneratespower added more, this is one of those sites where the value compounds the more you read rather than peaking at one viral post and then offering nothing else of substance afterwards which is common.
The conclusions felt earned rather than tacked on at the end like an afterthought, and a look at focuscreatesvelocity kept that careful structure going, you can tell when a writer has thought about the shape of their post versus just letting it ramble out and hoping for the best at the end which most do.
Liked the post enough to read it twice and the second read found new things, and a stop at momentumdesign similarly rewarded the second look, content with hidden depths that only reveal themselves on careful rereading is the rare kind that earns lasting respect rather than fleeting first impressions only briefly held.
The depth of coverage felt about right for the format, neither shallow nor overwhelming, and a look at focusunlockspath kept that calibration going, getting the depth right for blog format is genuinely difficult because too shallow loses experts and too deep loses beginners but this site nailed it nicely which I really do appreciate.
Liked that the post resisted a sales pitch ending, and a stop at actiondrive maintained the no pitch approach, content that ends without trying to convert me into a customer or subscriber is content that has confidence in its own value and this site is clearly playing the long game on reader trust.
Honestly impressed by the consistency of voice across what I have read so far, and a quick visit to ideasneedexecutionnow continued that consistent feel, when a site reads like one careful person rather than a committee the experience is more rewarding for the reader who notices these subtle editorial details over time.
Useful reading material, the kind I can hand off to someone newer to the topic without worrying about confusing them, and a quick look at buildcleartraction confirmed the same beginner friendly tone runs throughout the site which is great for sharing with people just starting their learning journey on this particular topic.
If I had to defend the time I spend reading independent blogs this site would feature in the defence, and a look at buildmomentummethodically reinforced that defensive utility, the ongoing case for non algorithmic reading is one I make to myself periodically and sites like this one provide the actual evidence that supports the case clearly.
Honestly enjoyed not being sold anything for the entire duration of the post, and a look at signalclarifiesaction kept that pleasant absence going across more pages, content that exists for its own sake rather than as a funnel to a paid product is increasingly rare and worth supporting where I can find it.
Thanks for putting in the work to make this approachable, plenty of sites cover the same ground but most do it badly, and a quick visit to cubeasana confirmed this one stands apart, simple language and useful examples without anyone trying to sell me anything along the way which I really appreciated.