In the hands of God

Whenever i go through difficult times, I loose heart quickly... but coming to UAE where the sound of Aazaan rings loud and clear.. I have learned to gather my courage. Bcoz when i loose heart.. I hear words over the loudspeaker "God is Great"... a reminder, an assurance..

I want to shortly 2 instances of inspiring stories I had read in mail forwards... which most of u must have read sometime or the other.. But I use it here to remind me and remind those who are in need of it...

1. A mountaineer hikes up the heights of a mountain when suddenly he is caught in a storm.. and he looses his grip and falls down the side of the mountain. But, thanks to the rope tied round his waist.. his fall is broken off at the point where the length of the rope unfolds completely... and tenses up against the leverage point of the pickaxe.. Bruised, our man holds on to the rope.., hanging midway down the mountain, and prays to God "God, help me".. and God says "Ok.. I will help you. But do u trust me?" Man says : " I do".
God: " then untie the rope off ur waist and let go."
Our man holds on to the rope in silence...

Next day they found a mountaineer frozen to death, hanging from a rope, inches above the ground.

2. Another story runs like this...
Man to God : "Oh God.. In good times, i felt ur presence and always found a pair of footsteps close to my own. Whose footsteps were those?"
God: "They were mine.. I always kept u company and watched over u day and night".

Man : "But when i went through difficult times, i found that the other footsteps tracks had vanished.. I was on my own. Why did u leave me? U had said that u will always be by my side".
God: "Those tracks that u saw on the ground were made by me. In ur difficult phase, I was carrying you".

Both stories are beautiful in their symbolic value... The first one teaches to trust God and not question Him. And the second one teaches us that God is always there with us.. and more so during our difficult times, always ready to help... all we need to do is to extend our hands towards him with a non-greedy and a grateful heart which loves His company in good times as well.

Once,back home, i went to the goldsmith to fix my chain.. I watched as he took my chain.. and applied some stuff on it and then heated it up with a greenish flame till the metal grew grey.. and then he dipped it in cold water mixed with some powder.. He repeated this process several times.. and i watched aghast.. Finally, he took the chain and washed it in water and patted it dry and returned it to me more shiny and prettier than ever.
It reminded me of my mother's words about how God moulded human beings through trials... How He would put heat our hearts up and hammer away on it with tongs and dip it in ice cold water while we burned away.. and how He would even repeat it.. till we are made strong enough.. and better. In God's hands, there is no harm. I am safe there.

Last week, i lost the 2nd round of interview for a job. I got down from a cab and walked towards home crestfallen... and i looked up towards the clouds.. There high above the ground.. about 20 stories high, I saw a man perched up with a concrete slab on a shaky metallic plank pulled up by a crane.. in the hot sun. If that man who could risk his life for his piece of bread, could go through life fighting and struggling and find it worth his while.., I had no business feeling sad and complaining.

I have so much to be grateful for.Thank you God.