“Remove the dross from the silver, and out comes a vessel from the silversmith.” Prv. 25:4
Amidst God’s refining furnace, it’s the suffering that gets rid of the dross in our lives.
Haralan Popov was a prominent minister in Sofia, Bulgaria when he was arrested in 1948 on false charges of treason and espionage against the state. He was among 15 Christian ministers charged with these crimes, and after being tortured and brainwashed for 8 months, pleaded guilty under duress and were sentenced to 15 yrs. in prison. Released in 1962, Popov moved to the USA in 1970 and started a worldwide campaign for human rights and religious freedom. In his book, “Tortured For His Faith”, Popov writes this:
“As the fires of persecution grew, they burned away the chaff and stubble and left only the golden wheat. The suffering purified the church and united the believers in a wonderful spirit of brotherly love such as must have existed in the early church. Petty differences were put aside. Brethren loved and cared for one another and carried one another’s burdens. There were no nominal or ‘lukewarm’ believers. It made no sense to be a halfhearted Christian when the price for faith was so great. There came a great spiritual depth and richness in Christ I had never seen in the times before when we were free.
Every man, woman and youth was forced to ‘count the cost’ and decide if serving Christ was worth the suffering. And to the Communist’s great regret, this was the healthiest thing they could have done for the church, for the insincere gave up but the true Christians became aware of what Christ meant to them and became more dedicated than ever before.”
Question: Whether “suffering” comes as some kind of illness, marital/relational strife, or outside persecution, as a Christian in the United States today, are we so isolated and insulated in our “holy huddle Believer bubble” that we are simply too comfortable to “step out and stand up” for Him?
Last week, I (Betsy) was put to this test when my internist became alarmed with a mass growing in my abdomen. A full line up of doc visits and tests followed, and yet, despite the unknown, I had the most amazing upbeat/calm spirit that overcame me. (The same calm Spirit that overcame me during my brain tumor announcement this May.) ~~ I even got to share God’s love and Good News with the sweet distraught woman who drew my blood (testing me for ovarian cancer) for 15 some odd minutes as well as with my internist, gyn, AND the whole bible study group of ladies that were over at our home just prior to it all!
And to God be the glory, the “mass” turns out to be an abdominal hernia over an ovarian cyst…together accounting for all the odd symptoms which pointed to something much more serious. PRAISE HIM.
~~So what do you say we each challenge ourselves to “step out and stand up for Him” in our area of suffering this week?
