TESTIMONY - SHORTENED VERSION
It was the year 2004 and perhaps Retah McPherson’s best year yet. Retah was “living the dream” as most people would describe her life, and loving it. She had the best of everything and to top it all off, she was crowned as Mrs South Africa. This opened many doors for her and ushered her onto a platform of public speaking. On one of these events she shared the following message:
“The simile of our lives as clay tablets - works of art that we are improving upon daily. We each paint our own tablet. While some of our tablets are bright and beautiful, full of color and life, others are drab, with only beige and brown paint signifying an unfulfilled life. More important though, is what happens once your precious clay tablet slips from your fingers one day and falls to pieces at your feet. No matter the color of your tablet, once it’s shattered you will bow your knee to inspect the damage. Bowing down to the broken pieces of your life is an automatic reaction. One person bows down and picks up the pieces. Then under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he redesigns his picture, pasting the potsherds to create a new mosaic … because all the broken pieces of your life is nothing more than a beautiful mosaic of your future. Another person kneels down among his destruction. He too collects the pieces, but then he sits in it – defeated. He cherishes his pain and bitterness flows from it. Life is all about choices.”
Little did she know her own plate was soon about to fall…
As Retah and her family were returning from one of these public speaking events in the Free State not long after she delivered the message above, her own precious tablet fell from her hands and shattered into a million pieces. The entire McPherson family was involved in a terrible motorcar accident. Retah, her husband Tinus and her youngest son Josh walked away with little or no injuries, but her eldest son Aldo felt the full brunt of the impact. He was thrown from the vehicle and found unconscious on the other side of the highway. This was the start of a long upward road of endurance relying only on God’s grace, mercy and provision.
Aldo was on life support for a long time after the accident, and during that time Retah was lifted into a new level of walking by faith and not by sight. Although Aldo suffered severe brain injuries as a result of the accident, Retha testifies: “God is good! He has awakened my Sprit to Him and I have come to know Him as a holy God who wants my life, not only my heart.”
After a few weeks in a coma, Aldo finally woke up. While he was in a coma, he had a supernatural experience where he went to heaven, saw God, the angels, Moses and Abraham. Aldo came back with one message: “Jesus is alive!” Due to the seriousness of injuries to his head Aldo was not able to speak for a long time and related his miraculous journey by writing letters lead by the Holy Spirit – which he is still doing today.
After these series of events their lives were forever changed. Retah and Aldo co-authored a book titled “A Message from God” which relates their miracle story in detail. Retah has since retired from her mainstream job and is now busy with full-time ministry. She travels around the country and the world spreading this simple truth “Jesus is alive!”
In closing, here is an excerpt from the preface of her book A Message from God:
I’ve always confessed that I’m a Christian. I’ve always known God. I believed in the Holy Trinity and even served God.
Yet, when I look back now I realize that I was merely living a good life filled with good deeds. I didn’t really know God’s character and I had no idea what it meant to be completely sold out to Him – which is the only sacrifice that is ever acceptable In His sight. I had to live through a terrible tragedy and huge suffering, before I was finally willing to sacrifice everything, including my son to God. Only after all that, did I hand over control of my life to Him and did I get to know Him personally.
All this pain was so unnecessary! Jesus had already paid the price in full. After I had given my life to Him as a living sacrifice, I could get in line with God’s perfect plan for my life – to live in a love relationship with the living God!
Only then could I say that it didn’t matter whether I lived or died, as long as I glorified God.
For a long time I thought it was my husband’s responsibility to make me happy, but the truth is no human being can make you completely happy. Only Jesus can do that for you. He is the ANSWER to all questions; the SOLUTION to all your problems, the FULFILMENT of all your needs and desires. He is ALL things to ALL men! I tried to quench my thirst with all sorts of things like perfectionism, fame, wealth and achievement. But, now that the fire of the Holy Spirit has purified me from the inside out, I know Jesus is the fountain of living water. He is the only One who can quench my thirst forever.
Know one thing for sure:
