God With Us

“His name shall be called ‘Emmanuel’ (which means, God with us)” Matthew 1:23

We must nurture our gift of faith, like a gardener takes care of his garden. The enemy likes to plant weeds, and we must not allow those unruly, fast growing weeds of doubt, anxiety, or despair, take over our garden. God said He will be with us in our journey, and if we believe, and trust, and hope, we will see the riches of His glorious inheritance even while we are here on earth. 

God was riding in a particular subway train on the morning of January 10, 1948, when a man named Marcel Sternberger boarded the 9:09. While on the train Marcel decided on the spur of the moment to visit a sick friend, and changed to ride the subway for Brooklyn. After visiting his friend, he then boarded a Manhattan-bound subway for his Fifth Avenue office. 

Although the train was crowded, a man sitting by the door suddenly left, and Marcel took his spot. The young man seated beside him was reading a Hungarian newspaper, and Marcel who usually did not talk to strangers, asked in Hungarian, “I hope you don’t mind if I glance at your paper.” This started a conversation, and Marcel learned that the man with sad eyes was named Bela Paskin, and that he was captured by the Russians during WWII and made to bury the German dead. After the war, he went back to his hometown in Debrecen, to look for his wife and family. His old neighbors told him his whole family was dead. “The Nazis took them and your wife to Auschwitz.” Heartbroken, he managed to immigrate to the US in October 1947, three months before Marcel met him on the subway. 

While Bela Paskin was speaking, Marcel felt his story was ringing some bells. A few days ago he had met a lonely young woman at the home of a friend and she had also lived in Debrecen. She was captured and brought to Auschwitz, and her relatives were all killed in the gas chambers. After liberation, she was brought to America in 1946 on the first boat for displaced persons. Marcel was so affected by her story that he had written her name down in his address book, intending to invite her to dinner to meet his family. He asked Bela, “Was your wife’s name Marya?”

He turned pale. “Yes!” he answered. “How did you know?” Marcel suggested, “Let’s get off the train”. They got off and Marcel led the man who looked as if he was about to faint to a phone booth. It seemed hours before Marya Paskin answered. “Try to be calm,” Marcel urged Bela. “Something miraculous is about to happen to you. Here, take this telephone and talk to your wife!”

The man started mumbling hysterically so Marcel decided to just bring him to where Marya lived. “Providence has brought us together,” Bela said afterward. “It was meant to be.”

Didn’t the grand weaver make sure Marcel would ride that particular train and sit in that particular seat? He also planned that Marcel would meet Marya a few days before, and that he would be so affected by her poignant story, he would write down her name, number and address. How many times has God journeyed with us in our life? “His name shall be called Emmanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (Mt 1:23) Trust in God and His promises. He will always bring us through whatever situation in life we find ourselves in.