I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged
more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received
from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods,
once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night
and a day in the open sea… 2 Corinthians 11:23b-25
The Apostle Paul suffered severely in his ministry of sharing the gospel in
the first century. But Paul was always quick to point out that what others
thought so terrible—his imprisonment—
God turned into good. Rather than hindering the spread of the gospel, it
actually aided its advance (Philippians 1:12-14). Paul’s example was followed by many disciples down through the
ages. You might be surprised to learn about one of these who lived in
Afghanistan.
In Kabul, a brilliant young blind man who had memorized the whole Qur’an in
Arabic listened to the gospel by radio and later publicly declared his faith in
Jesus as his Lord. He became the first blind student to attend regular-sighted
schools in Afghanistan. He graduated from University of Kabul with a law degree
in order to defend Christians who might be persecuted for their faith. Some of
his encouragement as a young believer came from a missionary from neighboring
Iran, Mehdi Dibaj.
Under the communist regime, Paul was arrested on false charges and put in a
notorious prison where tens of thousands were executed. There was no heat in the
jail during the cold winters. He had to sleep on the freezing mud floor with
only his overcoat. A prisoner next to him was trembling with cold since he did
not even have a jacket. Paul remembered John the Baptist had said, “The
man who has two coats should share with him who has none.” (Luke 3:11) He
took off his only coat and gave it to the neighbor. From then on, the Lord
miraculously kept him warm every night.
In prison, the communists gave Paul shock treatments to try to brainwash him.
The electric burns left scars on his head. But he did not give in. God’s grace
was sufficient. After release from prison he kept mastering foreign languages
and continued translating the Bible, writing and preaching…as well as discipling
new believers. In 1988, Paul was kidnapped by a fanatical Muslim group and
charged with apostasy because he became a Christian. He was beaten for hours
with rods and ultimately martyred. But Paul’s testimony lives on today as a
trophy of God’s grace. He is affectionately remembered as “Afghanistan’s Apostle
Paul”.
You can read more about Paul in Dr. Christy Wilson’s excellent book, More
To Be Desired Than Gold, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 1994.
RESPONSE: Today I will live biblically no matter what circumstances I may
face knowing that God’s grace is sufficient for me.
PRAYER: Thank You, Lord, for the inspiring example of Afghanistan’s
Apostle Paul and his faithfulness in serving You to the end.
Today’s Truth
Blessed is the one who does not
walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the
company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who
meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by
streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose
leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers (Psalm 1:1-3 NIV)
Friend to Friend
It was one of my favorite trees. And
it was dying.
We live on a lake, and my dying tree was truly a “tree planted by streams of
water.” So how could it be dying? How could branches right in the smack dab
middle of the bushy green be turning into kindling? It didn’t make sense.
I called an arborist to come out and take a look. He saw the problem right
away.
“Ma’am, see how that tree looks like a telephone pole stuck in the ground?
That’s not the way a tree should be planted. You should be able to see some of
the roots spreading out from the trunk. Those roots are covered up with dirt,
grass, and these pretty perennials you’ve planted at the base. The tree can’t
breathe.”
“It can’t breathe?” I asked.
“Yep. You see a tree is a living organism that needs to breathe just like you
do. If the roots are smothered, then it can’t. Trees need sunlight, water,
carbon dioxide and nutrients from the soil. Those flowers you have planted
around it are actually stealing the nutrients. The dirt covering the roots is
suffocating it. It has water, but it needs more than that.
“Bottom line, your tree is stressed out.”
Ah, words I understood. “Stressed out.”
So, the arborist cleared away some of the dirt from around the roots to allow
the tree to breathe and cut away the dead limbs. Then he dug up the flowers and
tossed them aside. I could almost hear the tree take a deep breath as if to say,
“Ah, thank you!”
Three months later, it looks like the tree is going to make it after all.
All this thinking about my tree planted by the water made me think about my
schedule…my life. And of course, that led me to your schedule…your life.
I like to think of myself as a tree planted by the water similar to the one
mentioned in the first psalm. I get up every morning and soak in God’s Word
before jumping into my day. That’s my water. My living water.
But it’s not enough to drink in the morning and then smother my day with too
many activities, commitments, and deadlines. I need more than water to thrive. I
need to be able to breathe.
I can plant “beautiful” activities in my life like those flowers, but they
may be sucking the nutrients right out of my soul. Those activities might
look nice on my calendar, but they might not be soul nice. I
can smother my roots with commitments and pile on the soil so that I look more
like a non-living thing stuck in the ground—a telephone pole—rather than a
fruit-bearing tree.
So as I begin this fall season with its activities left and right, I need to
stop and examine if they are exactly what God wants me to do, or if they are
just “pretty flowers ” that are keeping me from being that tree that yields
fruit in due season.
As I think about my fall schedule with its commitments and deadlines, I need
to ask myself if I am covering up the roots of my heart—smothering it from the
very air I need to breathe.
And that’s what I want you to consider today. Let’s do more than survive.
Let’s thrive! Clear away what needs to be cleared away. Toss out what needs to
be tossed (even if it looks pretty on your schedule). Make room to breathe.
Let’s Pray
Lord, I want to be a tree planted by
streams of living water that bears fruit in its season. As I move into the fall
season, open my eyes to unnecessary activities and commitments, and help me to
know when to say “no”. Show me what I need to dig up and toss. Help me to do
what I need to do to avoid stressing out my roots and suffocating my soul.
In
Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
I want you to keep this devotion
in mind as you head into fall. Before putting something on your schedule, ask
yourself these three questions that Liz Higgs asks herself in her book Only
Angels Can Wing It.
- Will this activity matter one week from today? One month? One year?
- Is there someone who does this task better than I do, to whom I might
delegate it?
- Does it satisfy a heart need for me or someone I love very much?
- What are the ramifications if I don’t do it?
- What are the outcomes if I do?
More From the Girlfriends
When it come to all the activities that scream for your
attention, one of the best ways to know when to say “no” and when to say “yes”
is to become a woman who listens to God. This book, Becoming a Woman who Listens to God,
includes a Bible Study guide that is a perfect resource for Bible study groups
and individual study. Learn how to see God’s fingerprints on the pages of your
life and experience His presence on a daily basis.
Por eso dejará el hombre a su padre y a su madre, y se unirá a su esposa
[...] Por tanto, lo que Dios ha unido, que no lo separe el hombre. Mateo 19:5-6
Cuando hablamos de relaciones y de situaciones que se presentan entre las
parejas, es muy común desear que el cambio venga de la otra persona.
Nos es más fácil exigir que dar y caemos en ese juego a la espera de que se
produzcan los cambios. Es más, entramos en un terreno muy negativo. Ya no
ponemos nada más de nuestra parte y en esa etapa se tienen momentos muy
desagradables. Hablamos lo necesario, vivimos con si fuera con un extraño y
hasta llegamos a dormir en cuartos separados. A esta altura, la relación se
encuentra al borde del abismo. Está en el momento más delicado porque Satanás,
que quiere matar el matrimonio, robar la bendición y destruir la vida de cada
uno, tiene bastante terreno que se le ha dado.
Quiero que recuerdes que el enemigo solo necesita una rendija para entrar y
destruir. Es lamentable que muchos matrimonios a esta altura ya estén con sus
mentes y corazones fuera de la relación. Es probable que hasta la palabra
divorcio sea tema de discusión y se esté considerando.
Hoy Dios te dice: «¿Qué estás haciendo? ¿Dónde están las promesas y los votos
dados ante el altar y los testigos?». Es hora de luchar por nuestros
matrimonios. Así que no seamos egoístas y pidámosle a Dios que ponga en nosotros
ese primer amor a fin de que logremos rescatar las cosas buenas que tienen las
parejas. Solo un cambio de actitud de tu parte, y permitirle a Dios que restaure
tu relación, será lo perfecto. Él está esperando hacer el milagro en tu
matrimonio. ¡Depende de ti!
Únete a esta campaña y digamos «NO» al divorcio.
Psalm 100:4-5 (NIV) Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Read all of Psalm 100
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