Waiting on God -- Whatever The Cost

(Quoted from www.AgapePress.com) – “The Supreme Court of Indonesia has denied the appeal of three Sunday school teachers arrested and charged with breaking the law by allegedly coercing children to convert to the Christian faith. The teachers were accused of enticing Muslim children to participate in the program and coercing them with gifts to convert from Islam to Christianity. [Defense] attorneys furthermore pointed out that the Christian teachers always required and obtained parental consent before allowing any child to attend their voluntary Sunday school program. Nevertheless, the three women were declared guilty and each was sentenced to three years in jail.

“During the trial, Muslim terrorists protested outside the courtroom, threatening to kill the women, pastors, missionaries, and judges if the Christians were acquitted.”
There is an upside to this. We know that God is able to keep these women from jail, but has allowed them to go through this time of trial for a reason. The imprisoned Christian teachers report that their faith is giving them strength and courage. “Zakaria, [one of the imprisoned teachers] who wakes early each day to pray and read her Bible, intercedes for the guards as well as for her fellow prisoners, and she has even been privileged to lead others to Christ while behind bars. She calls their present environment not a jail but their "School of Trust Bible School."

These brave Christian women did not protest, boycott, or lead a contentious public debate. They served others, shared their faith, and provided an example of Christ for others. That was their crime. Now God has led them through a very difficult time. A “valley of the shadow of death” as Psalm 23 would have it. While God will use them to spread the hope of Jesus Christ to others in the prison, he may also have them there for other reasons they will never know. They have three years to wait. They can use those three years to stew and fret or they can consider this time of waiting a sweet gift from God. I bet they will very natural do both, and have to daily struggle to rely on God for hope. When their three year term is up, I believe that they will emerge stronger and more determined then ever. My prayer for them is that their courage will be stronger and that they will continue, as before, to live as an example of Christ so that others can learn to follow him also.

Adam
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