My sheep hear my voice

For over 1000's of years God has spoken to his prophets and to his children. However, many times man has failed to hear and obey God. Interestingly, the voice of God becomes very clear to people when they have had some major life challenge, like the pandemic today. Some say there is no God while some Christians say that God has stopped speaking now. Here is a true testimony about how God spoke to me so clearly between the years 2000-2002, when I went through one of the most traumatizing years of my life, which changed the course of my life from serving myself to serving God. God has continued to speak to me in many different ways over the years. This testimony is just one of the many examples which has helped me know there is a God who cares & loves everyone.  

Jesus is alive and what he has done for me, he can do for you. I know some of my friends are going through similar or worst trials. Hence, I want to encourage you to focus on Jesus, allow the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in your life and be led on a path that the Lord God has for you.

Almost 20 years ago, in the Year 2000, I was working in New York City for a prestigious Wall Street firm, with a very cushy and comfortable job. In the month of October, a Fortune 100 technology company (let's call it TechCom to keep its confidentiality) came over and gave me a job offer. Even though I was not looking for a job change, but when this offer came I was very happy, since it was my dream company to work for. I put this matter in prayer and asked Lord Jesus for guidance, whether I should join TechCom or not. I was apprehensive of joining, since TechCom had just announced their first round of layoffs of 10,000 people. I waited and prayed almost 3-4 months and then Lord gave my wife and I the confidence to work for TechCom. I remember saying, "Lord I step into TechCom in faith, no matter what fires or storms may come through, I will trust in your protection."

The first few weeks in TechCom was great. It was feeling like a dream come true. My colleagues were extremely talented and we were working on cutting edge technology. I felt highly elated for being a part of these talented engineers and also being a part of their Research Labs, where they were coming up with the next generation technology. Soon I got my first project for a period of 3 months. The project was a great success and my client gave high recommendations for me. However, trouble was brewing at TechCom's corporate. The next round of layoffs started pouring in and almost everybody from my Director & VP levels down to the clerical staff, started getting scared to death for the upcoming layoffs, since they were coming in large numbers of 10-20,000 people. I was seeing my dream company crumbling right in front of my eyes. I too was scared. This situation forced me to be on my knees to pray. For the first time in my life, I went on a 40 day fasting and prayer, eating just 1 meal a day. I was really scared since my situation was very fragile, my cash reserves had almost run dry, we just had a new baby, we had just bought a new house a year ago, and most critical of all was that I did not have permanent residency (Green Card) in USA, since I was on a temporary work visa. Losing a job meant losing all what I had invested - career, money, time, network and effort.  Couple of days before my completion of my fasting; my manager called me to his office and told me that I was transferred to a different group within TechCom. This was exactly a day before the pink slips were given to our team. This move protected me from getting laid off. All I had done was fast and pray. I never applied for any external or internal jobs. I just trusted God and I believed that Jesus would get me through this storm. And he DID. 

I was praising Jesus, my God, for all his mercies on me. This turn in events instilled a lot of confidence in my faith and trust in God. I realized that I could have never learned this in any college or university, I had to go through "the life" to know this. The Lord God had to taken me through this trial to teach me the true meaning of fasting, praying and having complete faith in His protection. 

During these days I was immersed in reading the Word of God. The books of Isaiah and Jeremiah were really helpful, as I fasted and prayed. As I read His Word, I recognized that God wanted my fellowship just as I needed His presence. God wanted me to trust him 100% and not 99.9999%. I needed to learn to walk on water, like Peter did on the sea of Galilee. Jesus was teaching me not to look at circumstances, but to focus on Him in midst of all my trials. Matthew 14:30-31 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

All this happened within a span of 5 months after I had joined TechCom. However, stepping back in time before joining TechCom, I was working in New York in the years 2000/2001. My office in NY was very close to the World Trade Center (WTC). My daily schedule was to come to office between 8:45-9:15am through the Path train (subway) which was right underneath the WTC. I then used to have a 10 minute walk to my office, which was about 2-3 blocks away. When I had the offer from TechCom, I had left working in New York and had moved to TechCom’s office in New Jersey in March 2001. I am sure you remember when the WTC towers came down due the terrorist attack on Sept 11, 2001. This happened about 6 months after I had left NY. The place where 1000’s of people died was my everyday route to work, and the time when the towers came down was the time when I used to come out of the path train /subway under the WTC and walk down to my office. Now when I think back, I believe that the Lord God knew of this upcoming disaster and had amazingly moved me out of NY City to New Jersey, way before disaster could strike. I was reminded of Psalm 57:1 which tells us "...I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed." The Lord God protected me from possible death, for which I had no clue. During this time, just like me, I also heard many other amazing testimonies of other people who too were saved from this impending disaster in miraculous ways. 

Coming back to my life at TechCom, things started going very well. I was moved to an assignment where I was handling a $25 million account, with great prospects in the future. In a period when the company was losing money, my group was making money for the company. I was very happy and thankful to the Lord. My faith started getting into a new dimension and I started meditating on the Bible more. I started spending more time in prayer and waiting for the leading of the Holy Spirit for all aspects of my decisions. After 4-5 months there was another round of layoff of 10,000 people and my boss mentioned that I was safe, since we were handling a cash cow client.

After about 11 months of joining my new group, I had a very interesting dream, which I have not forgotten till now. It was two nights before Friday August 21, 2002. In the dream I saw myself standing inside a 4-bedroom house made of glass. Along with me was my friend, John Ramesh, who was one of my prayer partners from our Friday evening Prayer/Bible study fellowship. In the dream I see a huge whirlwind/twister coming towards the house. This whirlwind came right over my house, and I could see the funnel upwards since I could see everything from the glass house. Then the twister went away. Generally, nothing stands in the way of a whirlwind, especially a glass house. I was totally surprised on what I had seen. This house made of glass had withstood the destruction of the whirlwind. After the storm was gone, I stepped out of my house and saw utter destruction around me. But nothing had happened to me, or my house. Next day morning I was extremely disturbed, two days later I shared this dream on Friday August 21, 2002 to my prayer group and asked them to pray for my family and I. I was not sure what was going to happen in the days to come. A few days later John’s wife Alice encouraged me with Word of God, related to my dream from Nahum 1:3 (NKJV)"…..The LORD has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm…”

I started praying and fasting again. I started asking the Lord to help me understand this dream and what He was trying to say. However, after about 2 weeks God gave me a promise to stand on, in relation to my dream, from the Bible. Isaiah 41 ¹⁹ I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, ²⁰ so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.  

After about 2 months my company mentioned to me that they were planning to withdraw my Green Card application half way through the process due to the dot com bust and the technological downturn. Additionally, TechCom also announced the next round of layoffs for about another 10,000 people. I was very confused at the turn of events. My faith was again at the point of testing. My mind started contemplating all possible options and I again saw myself losing everything that I had invested. I was very confused, and as I talked to friends & family, I was getting different opinions. Some said to migrate to Canada, some said look for another job, and then I had the option to return to India which was also one of the suggestions by others. All my friends were trying to help me, in their own ways and I understood their warm concern towards us. However, I was still waiting on Lord’s direction. These were really troubled times. The US job market was extremely bad, and there was nowhere to go…I was STUCK.

However, I continued my prayer in these confusing times. My wife and I prayed, "Lord let your will be done in our life, rather than our will and our desires." We knew that our Lord God brought us to USA, and if he desired, he will take care of us. We also prayed, “Lord, if it is your will for us to go back to India, we are ready, but we need a confirmation from you." Exactly a year back we had been terrified with a similar situation, however this year the Lord had made us bolder to face a similar trial. We saw how God had molded us in the past one year. We were fully open for the Lord’s will and we meditated continuously on the Lord’s word to know his will. Lord was teaching us from, Romans 12:1-2 …..offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not confirm any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

In midst of all these confusions, my wife and I continued to strengthen ourselves with these following promises that the Lord God gave us through various people who prayed for us and when God spoke to us directly as we meditated on His Word -The Bible.

• Deuteronomy 1: ³⁰ The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you,
• Isaiah 41: ¹⁰ So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
• Joshua 1 ⁸ Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

As God was dealing with my faith, it was amazing to see how my challenging trials were blessing my extended family. I was very encouraged to see my brother Stephen encouraging me from the One true Word of God. He wrote to me, Hi Stan => I thought of something today morning... so I thought why not let you know about it... In all these months whenever you used to have some problems and when you were bogged down by the worries... I used to ask you... where is your faith... Its only yesterday that I heard you truly trusting your faith... and to help you in strengthening your faith... here is a verse from the Bible...Psalm 27:13-14 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

Now two months had passed after my dream and I was sensing trouble brewing all around me. My manager had told me that major layoffs were coming and it could hit anybody within our team, from Senior VP levels all the way down and decisions were being made from the top. I was really discouraged. Hence, on Oct 10, 2002 I decided to sell my house, since for the past couple of days I had been getting up very early in the morning at about 3 am to pray. I was in prayer and was just waiting to hear God's word for me, but nothing came. I was very troubled…...the one answer that I was waiting for, was not coming. God was silent or perhaps I was not able to hear him in midst of my sorrows.

That same evening of Oct 10, 2002, as I was driving back home from work, I was praying in my spirit to the Lord, asking “Lord...I have heard all the opinions from every body, but I have not heard from you.” Amazingly, that very moment in the car, the Holy Spirit started revealing to me the meaning of my dream that I had about 2 months ago. The Holy Spirit confirmed to me that the 4 rooms of the glass house were 4 months. My working/staying status in the USA was as fragile as a glass house and 2 months had passed and "a whirlwind will pass after 2 more months." This meant that something disastrous will come over me in the next 2 months, and I was not to be concerned, since God already knew about it and He will make a way for me. The Holy Spirit revealed to me that I was to stay where I was and was not to sell my house NOW. The Lord God will protect me and show me what to do in the days to come. I was learning that the Lord’s ways are mysterious. He gives us answers when it is appropriate and at different times when we least expect him. Lord was teaching me that sometimes more than sacrifice, we needed obedience to God. With obedience would come trust, faith and patience.  Patience to wait for God’s perfect will to manifest. I then asked the Lord, why did I see my friend John, with me in the dream. The Holy Spirit confirmed that I was to be in prayer and supplication to Him until He guides me to do what is next. I was reminded of Matthew 18: ²⁰ For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. 

This amazing revelation filled me with a supernatural peace. This peace was due to the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, as it descended upon me. I immediately shared this to my prayer group and requested them to uplift my family in prayer. My confidence and strength was boosted up. I continued in prayer and fasting. One week before November 21, 2002, I somehow again went on a seven day fasting and prayer, with just one meal a day. On Nov 21, my manager called me and told me that I will be off TechCom's payroll effective Dec 21^st, exactly 4 months from the time I shared the dream to my prayer group and just like the Holy Spirit had revealed to me in my journey back home from work.

The peace of the Lord had filled me so much that I was not at all scared, I was ready to face this trial. My God was with me and he will make a way for me. I remember speaking about Job from the Bible to my manager. When Job too had lost everything he had said. Job 1:21… The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised. I knew that I was in God’s hands and I need not worry about the outcome. I had a good Christian manager but he was very unhappy to give me this bad news, but was encouraged to see how I had taken up the layoff notice. My manager knew that this meant a major downfall for my family. This may force me to return to India and lose all what I had invested in USA, unless I get another job quickly. I had left from India about 9 years ago and here I was back on ground zero of my career.

I immediately called my wife and my prayer group about the layoff notice. Amazingly, I was experiencing an unknown peace. My mind was thinking of multiple confusing options, but my heart was making me stand firm on God’s promises. However, by late evening on Nov 21^st, my mind was making me feel disabled and I started feeling very weak as the news of the layoff started resting on me. Such a thing had happened to me for the very first time in my life. The devil was right there taking every opportunity to put me down in my spirit.  However, God always has a way out for us. Nov 21st was also my last day of my seven-day fasting and I did not have the strength to continue praying or fasting. Interestingly, that evening as I was sharing the news with some of my prayer partners, one prayer partner, Jose Daniel, from Atlanta, called me and said that he was planning to be on a 3-day fasting/prayer for us (without any meals, only fluids). I was amazed at his love for us and what this prayer partner was doing for us. Just before his 3 day fasting was over, the Holy Spirit strengthened me and my faith in the Lord was restored. Thinking back. I see how important it is for believers in Christ to be in true fellowship in mind and spirit. It is the body of Christ that helps and encourages one another in the Lord. All Christians have been called to “stand in the gap” for our friends, family and other people on this earth. This is our true mission as Christians. I renewed my prayer and fasting, with breaks in between. I knew that the Lord God had a plan for me and I had to wait for it to materialize. My prayer group, my parents, my brother’s family, my church and some of my extended family were constantly praying for my family. 

On Dec 21, 2002 I was finally off TechCom’s payroll, 4 months after my dream. Exactly as the Holy Spirit had explained to me. Now I was at the crossroads, I had two choices. Firstly, to sell everything and leave for India forever, Secondly, to look for another job and get by work visa transferred to another company as soon as possible, before my work visa was to expire or be cancelled.

Prayerfully, I decided to start looking for a new job soon after I had heard from my manager on Nov 21. Almost every door I knocked, people liked my education and professional work experience, but when they heard I needed to be sponsored for work visa, they said NO. I almost applied to about 6000 job openings and reached out to many recruiting firms in a span of 1-2 months. Prayerfully, my wife and I had decided to wait till Dec 21^st for the Lord to open a door for me before taking a decisions. As soon as I was off TechCom's payroll, we prayed about our house (mortgage payments) and decided NOW was the time to sell the house. The next day I sent an email to a couple of friends, asking them if they wanted to purchase my house. Amazingly without putting the house in the market for even 1 day, I had a buyer (one of my friends whom I emailed had expressed a desire to buy the house) and within 30 days I closed the sale of my house. The Lord’s Word was appropriate here too, since God had told me not sell the house 2 months back and now I was able to sell it without any effort. The promise from God came true, 1 Samuel 30 ¹⁹ Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back. I got back all my invested money and also made some profit on the sale.  This profit helped me to have a cushion for our unwanted expenses during my job search. My daily expenses were flowing money out, without any inflow of salary. Things became very tough.

My time on my visa was running out. My current visa was valid till Oct 2003. However, based on feedback from TechCom’s lawyers, I understood that, I could not stay in USA beyond March 2003. We put the timeline in front of the Lord, praying and asking Lord to open the door for us before March 2003. I did not want be illegal and overstay in USA, without a visa. By middle of Jan 2003, we realized that soon we might have medical insurance issues, my older son’s schooling was in jeopardy and we had lodging issues, since nobody was offering temporary apartments without a job. Soon we would not have a house to stay. Hence, I decided to send my family back to India in Feb 2003. After the house sale, we temporarily moved to my cousin's house in New York to whom I am indebted for life for their help in this moment of crises. I moved all our household items to a temporary storage. I scheduled my wife and sons ticket to India and told my wife, if the Lord opens a door for me, then have a good vacation in India, if not I will meet you in India by first week of April 2003, since I had also booked my forever return tickets to India for 1^st week April 2003.

During my job search in December 2002, I came to know of a preacher coming from Sri Lanka for a prayer meeting at somebody’s house, whom I did not know. I was not keen to go, but I dragged myself to this prayer meeting. We had a powerful word from the minister of the Lord. After the prayer meeting, I met a person for the very first time. Understanding my situation, he offered to help me. He was a recruiter. I was surprised at his offer, since he was open to help me get a job as soon as possible, even if it meant not making any profit. I was surprised by his attitude, since recruiters only work for commission and here was one guy, who wanted to genuinely help me. Looking back I could see in him the Good Samaritan in the Bible. He forwarded my resume to 100’s of companies and one of them went to a small IT company in Michigan. This firm in Michigan was bidding for a large project with the State Government. When I talked with them in December, they mentioned that they could only hire me, after the project was awarded. I was tired of hearing the same reply repeatedly from every recruiter - from Boston to California and across USA. During my job search many such projects never materialized or if they did others were chosen instead of me. So I assumed that this opportunity in Michigan was not going to materialize. However, I kept my follow up with the company.

During the same time, one of my friends, Dr. Sam George, in London, suggested me to talk to a pastor in New Delhi, India for prayer. I heeded his word and called the pastor in Delhi. He prayed for my situation and the next day he prophetically mentioned that the Lord will open a small job for me within 7 days, however he will open a better and permanent job after 3 months. I was confused by his prophesy.

At the same time, my prayer partner from Atlanta, Jose Daniel, called me and suggested me to meet a person in NY. He told me, not to say anything about my problem or issue, but just ask this man of God to pray for you and seek the leading of the Holy Spirit. I called him and introduced myself and gave him my friend’s reference. He asked me to come to his house for prayer on Sunday after church. My friend had mentioned to me that he was a man of prayer. I went there and after chatting a little while, he suggested lets go to prayer. As he prayed, he mentioned that the Holy Spirit was showing him a house that was burning and somebody trying to pour water on it. He also mentioned that he saw papers moving and he mentioned this happening two times. He also saw a person holding my hand and helping me cross a very busy road. He mentioned other prophesies too, however I am not at liberty to mention them till they come to pass.

I was really confused with all these prophecies, and was not sure what to make of make of them. But I continued in prayer asking God what these men of God had stated. Was it really true? The Bible says that prophesy can only be known if it comes true, otherwise those are false prophets and they spoke from their own mind. I asked God to help me understand what was needed to be done in this situation. Within a period of 7 days, I got an offer from a friend of mine who was starting a new company in New York. I was overjoyed; I saw the first part of the prophecy coming true. However, when my work visa papers were being created, I saw a lot of inconsistencies to the job offered and what was being stated on my work visa application. It appeared that my friend was falsifying the documents. With a heavy heart I turned down his offer. I had decided that I would not base my stay in the US on a false application and break God's commandments. “Exodus 20:16 => You shall not give false testimony….”  The prophesy from the man of God in NY about papers moving came true, since my work visa papers were the ones that were moving for adjusting my visa status (however the prophesy had mentioned the same happening two times). I saw concurrence in the prophesies between the two ministers of God and I believed that the word spoken was one and the same. Bible tells us that we can validate prophesy, when it is fulfilled and also when there is unity in the Spirit. The second prophesy about a house burning with somebody putting water on it, also came true, since I was had closed on my house sale by Jan 30, 2003. I got back all what I had invested. Right after that, my wife and sons left for India in Feb 2003.

I moved to my cousin's house in NY as I continued my job search. In the second week of Feb 2003 I called the company in Michigan for the one last time and asked if there was any hope for my employment? They mentioned that they had been selected as one of the finalists for the Bid, however they had proposed somebody else for the Project Manager position, who was available locally in Michigan. Since I was in New Jersey and my need for a work visa had put me at a disadvantage, and they had put me on reserve. I was curious about the person they had selected and they told me that this Project Manager had 37 years of project management in technology experience. I could not believe what I was hearing. That night I broke down and cried out to the Lord and said, “Lord, please tell me to go back to India, if that is your will. Since I was having competition from people who had more experience than my years on this earth. I was not even 37 years of age.” The market economy had tanked and there were so many unemployed people in the market and the situation around me started putting pressure on me. However, I kept hanging on to the promises from the Lord. Deuteronomy 28:13"The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom."

The very next day morning, after I had cried out to the Lord, I got a phone call from the company in Michigan, asking me to help them in the final round of project bidding. I asked what had happened over the 24-hour period. He mentioned that the other person had taken up another job offer, hence was no longer available. I was overjoyed. I decided to go and help them in getting the project. They sent me flight tickets and hotel accommodation to take care of my expenses. I came to Lansing, MI and worked with the team to make the presentation to the client executives for the Final Bid process. The presentation went very well. The company’s president mentioned that he was very happy with me and wanted to give me a job offer even if the project was not awarded to the company. I called my wife in India and after talking to her and praying about the offer I accepted the offer during the 3^rd week of Feb 2003. My work visa papers were immediately filed. I was running against time, since my work visa was about to get cancelled anytime, however the Lord God was able to help me get my new work visa approval within one month. Thus the prophesy on the permanent job offer of coming within 3 months also came to pass and so was the prophesy on the 2^nd movement of papers (which was the work visa papers sent for processing to the lawyers a 2^nd time) and this time it was done correctly.

Within 2 weeks we were overjoyed to hear that we were awarded this prestigious multi-million dollar project. I joined the company as a Project Director and bought my family back to USA by end of April, 2003. They had a good 2-month vacation in India, my older child Edwin was back in school, I moved into an apartment in Michigan and brought back all my household items from storage to the apartment. I now had my medical insurance too restored for my family. Looking back I saw how the Lord had moved people around to provide a space for me in this company’s payroll and for the prestigious project. What the Lord has assigned nobody can take away. 

All the dreams, prophecies and promises that the Lord gave during this journey and those that the Lord gave to other men of prayer for me came to pass in exact measure, like the first promise that the Lord gave me - Isaiah 41 ¹⁹ I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, ²⁰ so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.  I want to praise and thank, my God Jesus, who never left me during these trials. Things seemed lost or disastrous most of the time, even though my mind made me seem desperate, however God spoke and he opened the doors for us at the right time. My God was never late, he was JUST IN TIME.

I want encourage all of you today by stating 6 things that God taught me through this journey:

1. Sometimes God tells us to do something that does not make sense - Just do as God says
2. God will always stand between you and the problem - So trust his way rather than yours 
3. God will give you a promise that you can walk on - Take it to your heart and believe it  
4. God will expect you to wait till he is ready and will expect you with more when he is.
5. When we go through life challenges, avoid asking, “Why Lord?” You will never get that answer, since you will only know that when the ordeal is over
6. Your boat will be shaking, trust Him and go to Him with the expectation of receiving his Word, His Power and His Blessing, in His time and His Way. 

It is amazing to see, when the natural solutions are finished, that is when the supernatural kicks in through the grace of God. Psalm 9:9 Call upon the Lord in your affliction he will help you. "The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble."  Do you see God in control?…or, Do you see yourself in Control?

Looking back, I praise and thank God for teaching me what I needed most. Looking back, I am reminded that couple of months before these trials had begun I used to pray to Jesus to take full control of my life....looks like He did. So remember when you ask God, He will surely take control. If you have prayed about something, be expectant to receive it too. Mathew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  

During this journey, I realized that I had not fully given up all the areas of my life to God. My trials have taught me many things and now I see myself heading towards the purpose that my Lord has kept me for. This is what the Lord says,….. “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:16,18-19.  

May Lord Jesus bless you all. 1 Corinthians 15:57 "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."  

Note: Many of the Bible quotations used above are from the New International Version (NIV).