IN FOCUS - IN THE SHADOW OF HIS WINGS | KAIROS GLOBAL | MAY 2019

Author: Ani Thomas

Intro: Ani Thomas shares about the centrality of the Word of God in her personal and family life.

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John1:1). It was when I came to the knowledge that the Word was Jesus himself that my attitude towards the Bible started to change. Until then I had considered the word of God as an instruction manual which I had to follow to be a good Catholic.

I remember one night years ago – waking up from sleep around 2 in the morning. With a heavy heart, I knelt down before our altar and cried, “My Lord I have been a Jesus Youth for many years, but I am still the same old person, with little change. Though I feel spiritually uplifted after retreats, fellowship meetings and other JY gatherings, there is no inward change and I am not growing spiritually”. With tears streaming down my cheeks I told Jesus, “you know that I love you”. After a few moments of silence, I opened the Bible and my eyes fell on this verse, “whoever loves me will obey my commandments” (Jn 14:15). I kept pondering this word for days in my prayer and realised that this verse was not only pointing to the ten commandments, but the whole Word of God. Later on, I received confirmation of this realization during a time of prayer with my spiritual elder. Thereafter I gradually started reading the Bible more seriously and lovingly, memorising verses and meditating and reflecting on them.

 The first verse I memorised was Philippians 4:6-7 – “Do not worry about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let all your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding will guard your mind and heart in Christ Jesus”. I wrote this verse in my prayer journal and also on a piece of paper and kept it with me so that I could look at it whenever I had a chance to, whether at work or at home. I didn’t know at the time how much of an impact this verse would have on my life. There are many testimonies connected to this verse but I would like to share one incident in particular to show the power of this verse. I work as a nurse, caring for new-born sick babies and once while on shift, I found that my rota for the following month was out and my shift requests had been completely ignored, putting my childcare in jeopardy. I was very angry, disappointed, worried and couldn’t concentrate on my work at all. Almost instantly, the Holy Spirit reminded me of Philippians 4:6-7. Immediately I went to the wash-room and loudly prayed the verse about ten times. The word of God which is alive and active, within a few seconds filled my heart with His profound peace. As Jesus said “the peace that I will give is not like the world gives” (Jn 14:7). Worldly peace depends on our life situations, circumstances, on how we feel, our moods and emotions. But the peace that Christ gives is heavenly and regardless of our ever-changing life situations and circumstances, it cannot be shaken or taken away. The next eight hours on shift I enjoyed working in this heavenly peace without a moment of worry.

My constant study of the Word gradually helped me realise that there was indeed an experiential change in my attitude and thinking. As it says in Romans 12:1-2, “Do not confirm to the standards of this world but let God transform you inwardly ...” When my mind was filled with God’s word, I received the grace to think and act according to the standards of His Kingdom.

I had been blessed with a spiritual friend and we used to share the Word of God we read in our personal prayers and how it motivated and challenged us. Those sharing’s helped me a lot – gradually praying and meditating on the word of God, it started becoming flesh within me and began influencing my decision making as well. In 2011, when both my husband and I were discerning about home-educating our children, we were confronted with a lot of questions, doubts, concerns and anxieties about the future of our children but I found particular comfort and strength in Romans 8:14, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God”. Confident in the Lord’s assurance, we decided to home-school our children. Every temptation to compare with the worldly standards and self-doubt was overcome in the power of the Word. When our eldest was in high school, I was haunted by negative thoughts of self-doubt, of whether we were doing justice to the potential and calibre of our child. I prayed and claimed Romans 8:14, over and over again as I was desperate for an answer from the Lord. During my daily chores, I gazed upon an article in one of the monthly Catholic magazines, where the writer mentioned something that really struck me profoundly, “the world today needs people who would yield to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, without questioning or doubting the rationale behind such inspirations”. Thus, I was reassured and we took it as a sign from God for me that we were right to continue home-schooling.

There are many occasions in my daily life where the Holy Spirit reminds me of His word which will be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, not only at home with my husband and our six children, but whoever I interact and relate with – whether it be my work colleagues, parishioners, neighbours, JYs or even strangers.

When I reflect today on my faith journey, I can say with confidence that encountering Jesus in the Word of God and personal prayer has transformed me inwardly and continues to do so every-day! “Then He opened their minds to understand the scriptures” (Luke: 24:45). I pray that as Jesus explained to the apostles may He reveal the mysteries of the Word of God to each one of us. Amen!

Ani Thomas lives in Worcester, UK with Joby, her husband and their 6 children. She has been actively involved with the youth ministry in UK for the past decade and more.