Over this last weekend, I received a surprise package in the mail. Having recently celebrated a birthday, where I became an "official" senior citizen..(ugh..now I can start ordering off the senior menu at Denny's and save that 15%..) , I grabbed my package out of the mailbox and ran..(well, walked)..back to the house. I was overwhelmed with excitement that someone had remembered and taken the time to send me something. I was like a kid in a candy store as I began to rip open my treasure.
This gift ended up being from some friends of ours who returned recently from China. The package was securely wrapped with a lot of tape and so I ran to the kitchen to look for the scissors. I hadn't seen these friends in a while and knew that this was probably not something that they had sent for my birthday..but that it was probably something that they had bought for Ray and I while in China. My excitement began to grow!
I really don't know what I was expecting to find in that box..maybe a nice kimono or something..maybe a beautifully made pair of earrings..but as I made it through the layers of packaging, and opened the box, my eyes fell upon something most unexpected. There in the bottom of my package laid a frame..a very simple black frame..but inside the frame was a page from a Chinese Bible..because it was all in Chinese, I couldn't read a word of it..but I knew this was something really special. My friend had sent a letter along with the gift, and explained that this page was from a Bible that didn't make it into the country. It was actually confiscated four times!
This morning, I don't even feel that I can do justice to what God has laid on my heart. I have spent so much of my life in my own little world, concerned with my own needs and wants..and this precious gift that I received last week was such a wake up call and reminder to me, that not only am I so blessed..I have several Bibles in the house..I can pick one up and read it any time that I want to. I have a wonderful church that I can attend freely without a second thought. I have a pastor who is a man of God, and I live in a country where I am free to worship... but I am also reminded that Not all have these privileges.
Also included in my box..was a picture of our friends with the pastor who helped them during their stay. They were there to bring Bibles into the country. Because it is illegal to have a Bible there, these Bibles were confiscated on numerous occasions..but praise God, several thousand Bibles made it into the country. As my friend put it in her letter, He made seeing eyes temporarily blind, and softened many hearts as well. The man who helped my friends over there is a pastor who spent 21 years in prison for his faith! I can't even look at his picture without tearing up..and thanking God for him.
As I looked more closely at the page from the Chinese Bible that was inside my frame, I realized that it was from Psalm ll9. Verse 114 says, "Thou art my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Thy word." Again, I got teary as I realized that God truly was a shield to our friends as they went on this mission. I thought about those who have never had a Bible, and how even one page from a Bible is a treasure to some. Many people in other countries who have no Bible, may only have one or two pages that they have somehow been able to get ahold of. That one page to them is a treasure.
My one page is a treasure to me. This was one of the best gifts that I've ever gotten. These precious people in China are a treasure to God. I am so thankful for the courage and dedication of our missionary friends. They have brought hope to people who otherwise may not have had any hope. If I had to quickly leave my house and could only take a couple of things, I would I grab my framed page from the chinese Bible, and the pictures of my grandson, and I would be so thankful for two of the greatest treasures in my life.
Today, I hope all of you might pray with me for those who are not allowed to have Bibles..for those who have to meet secretly to worship Christ, and are thrown into prison for their faith..for those who would be so thankful for even one page from a Bible..for those who have had to give up the children that they love..because of the oppression of man. May each of us take a step outside of the world we live in today and pray for those who might be considered the poor in this world, because spiritually they will be rich when they have a relationship with Christ.... May He richly bless each and every one of you today also.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment