Tonight I feel somewhat compelled to share what I wrote in my journal. I'm not a huge journaler. If that's a word. I typically only write when something is on my mind, when I'm going through a struggle or when I realize "Hey, it's been almost two months since I've written something..... maybe I should!" I have friends who blaze through their journals like they're going out of style, but that's just not me. Anyway, tonight freedom is on my mind. Mostly spiritual freedom.
Persecution is something we all know happens. Most likely, many of us have done our fair share of praying for the persecuted church. For some people, it may be just another thing on the prayer list. For some, they feel very passionate about it. Either way, it's probably not something that we desperately hope happens to us. Some people want it for the sake of deepening their walks with Christ. I am not one of those people. I can't decide if that makes me feel guilty or not. But anyway, onto what I wrote tonight.
Ten years ago marks a day when this nation was crying out to God. We were unified as a contry and as a body of Christ. Today we are so far from that place. Yesterday, Marshall was threatened to be killed by a drug cartel. Praise Jesus he boldly stood firm in his faith and trusted in the Lord. Praise God that for now he is still okay. But all this has made me think. I am so thankful for my freedom to worship. I praise God that I can worship without fear. I lift up my brothers and sisters who don't have this freedom, and I plead with the Lord that it will never be taken away. But I am not promised this freedom. I am not promised that I will never be in that situation. The Bible says not to fear what man can do to the body, but rather the soul. But the truth is, I fear what he can do to the body. Mostly because I fear that through that, he can get to my soul. I don't fear death. I fear torture. I fear watching my loved ones suffer. I fear that through those horrible things, I will cave. And the only thing I can do about it is plead for faith to believe that in that situation, God will be there. He will sustain. Faith to believe that in that situation, I will feel the supernatural power of God. I can only hope and pray that I will remain faithful to the end.
I'm not sure why I chose to put this out there tonight. It really does nothing but make me feel vulnerable and exposed. Maybe one of you secret readers (because I know most of you are secret readers) can connect with this. Now, more than ever, we need each other as believers. Please join me in praying for strength in the body of Christ. Let's band together. One analogy I have always remembered from a sermon is about uncooked spaghetti noodles. If you take one or even just a few noodles, they are very easily broken. But if you have a fistful, and they are all together, it's nearly impossible to break them. And yes, I think of that every time I made spaghetti:)
6 hours ago
2 comments:
Sarah, I really enjoyed your blog
tonight when I read it. You have
much wisdom and it gave me much to
think about Love you
I think you have put into words what many of us feel. While we would like to believe we would be strong, the truth is we aren't sure & it's a frightening thought. But as a dear sister told me once, at a time when she was going through severe trial (with joy)-If you thought about it ahead of time you would think you could never do something like this, but God gives you what you need WHEN you need it.
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