Miracles, a laugh and a tear and new life

Last night was the second night in Arad without sirens and the first one for most of the country. But we were awakened rudely a bit after 7.00am by sirens. This attack gave a direct hit in Tel Aviv and a direct hit on Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva. But a huge miracle happened there! This is what a doctor from Soroka said: "Just yesterday we evacuated the old surgical building that took a direct hit today. It's a great miracle". Let’s really give God all the glory for once again His amazing protection. This is beyond human capacity (and even the human capacity was given by God!).

I remain in shalom in the midst of all of this, even though there is a level of alertness and sometimes tension. Yesterday night, when going to bed, I realized I was waiting for an attack. It felt like: let it just come now, then we can get it over with and go to sleep peacefully. That did not happen 😉 and anyway I know I need to find my shalom and rest in Yeshua and not in an attack having happened and being passed…

I continue to pray and worship. Yesterday, God gave me the song Jesus Christ our Living Hope to sing and combine it with HaTikva, the Israeli national anthem. Some lines of the worship song are:

Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion

Declared the grave has no claim on me

Jesus, Yours is the victory

Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me

Jesus Christ, my living hope

If you combine these lines with HaTikva (and a small alteration), you have a powerful prayer!

As long as in the heart within,

The Jewish soul yearns,

And toward the eastern edges, onward,

An eye gazes toward (Zion) Yeshua.

Our hope is not yet lost,

The hope that is two-thousand years old,

To be a free nation in our land,

The Land of Zion, Jerusalem.

So, I continue you be at the right place, at the right time. People do talk to me about rescue flights, that are now being organized for foreigners to leave the country. But I don’t feel that I need rescue 😉. My prayer has been for years, that if something really happens in Israel, I want to be there with her, in her pain. God gave me this on October 7th, God is giving it to me now. 😊

In the safe room

Proof of a rocket attack

The other day I visited our next door neighbors. The mother of the family told me, that that day she had not really been able to work. She works remotely and with computers and she just didn’t have the head space for it. I fully understood her, because that day I also had difficulties in getting out of a spiritual heaviness. The day before I had woken up with a lot of grief and had just cried for half an hour, while worshiping the Lord. She told me, that she doesn’t have the luxury to cry, because there is nobody who will pick her up, if she falls apart. With 2 daughters at home (8 and 11), her husband on reserve duty in Nablus and her mother with them, she is the one who needs to take care of everybody and be strong. I realized, that I have the luxury to cry and that, as an intercessor, I can cry the tears for Israel, with Israel. And even though it asks a lot of energy, it is a privilege for me!

I also would like to share a bit of the Israeli humor with you regarding this war. There's a joke going around, calling this "Operation Sleep Deprivation". And instead of Am Kalavi, a people like a lion, it is called Am Lo Yashen, a people that doesn’t sleep. This is a strong one too: "In my shelter I sleep like a baby: every three hours I wake up screaming!" The two best ones for me are the ones on the pictures down here 😉.

In the midst of this, there is some beautiful news of new life: in the swallow nest that was built in our yard are now 2 baby swallows, that are being fed diligently by their parents and that grow daily. It is such a joy for me to see their little heads popping up over the edge of the nest! It is for me an extra reminder of God’s promise to give live in the midst of this broken world.

Thank you for your continued prayers! And, don’t forget to give thanks to the Lord and praise His name for all the miracles of protection and for all He is doing in the secret place of the heart of Israel.