We Are Honored
Theme of the Week: Broken Wholeness
Friday, July 22, 2005
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:3). Bonus Reading: 2 Timothy 3:10-12
On February 11, 1973, then-Captain Jeremiah Denton returned home after years of captivity as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. He made his way down the steps of the plane, stopped in front of a microphone and said, "We are honored to have had the opportunity to serve our country under difficult circumstances."
I wonder if this is how the believer will feel when he stands one day before God?
God entrusts to some of His servants—without explanation—the most difficult circumstances. Just look at Job, Joseph, Daniel, and the early martyrs.
A young man released from an oppressive, atheistic regime was asked, "What was it like, being persecuted for your faith?"
"We thought it was the normal Christian life," was his surprising, yet candid, reply.
He was right. It is Christians in the West who are living abnormally. Personally, I am grateful for the "abnormality." But if it doesn't last, we must not question, complain, or become bitter. Instead let us accept each day as the Lord sends it, living obediently and faithfully and not fearing what may come. We know that the glory ahead will obliterate the grim past.
—Ruth Bell Graham in Decision
My Response: Am I open to the "honor" of suffering for Christ?
Thought to Apply: You have granted me many blessings; now let me also accept what is hard from Your hand. —DIETRICH BONHOEFFER (German pastor executed by Nazis)
Adapted from Decision (9/04) by permission.
Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
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