“…Keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” 1 Peter 3:16-17
One of China’s greatest evangelists for the Gospel was a man named, Wang, Ming Tau. He was imprisoned for his faith. Under tremendous pressure, pain, and persecution he recanted his faith and they let him out of jail. He was miserable. He knew he had failed God. So Ming Tau made a decision. He prayed, “If it is Your will for me to spend the rest of my life in prison doing what is right, I would rather be there than to spend my life free but doing what is wrong. If prison is what You want, I gladly accept it.”
He began to walk the streets of Beijing shouting, “I have betrayed my Lord! Jesus Christ is my Lord!” As expected, he was immediately arrested. For 19 years he suffered terribly in a Chinese prison. After his release from prison, he shared his story with other Christians. He asked if he could sing a hymn that he sang every day in prison. This man, sitting in an aged, broken-down body, began to sing these words:
“All the way my Savior leads me –
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who throughout life has been my guide?
Heavenly peace, divinest comfort
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, what err befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.”
There is one thing you can always say with absolute confidence and conviction, knowing it is true and right. Whenever you are being harmed for doing what is right and good, you can always say, “Lord, You are in control of this situation. Even when others are not doing what is right You will. Even when life is not fair You are faithful.”
Dear Lord, help me to see the purposes behind suffering, to understand your hidden ways, and to stand fast when all others will not. Let me speak your precious truth to a world in great need, and help me to proclaim Jesus wherever I go.
Topics: Suffering
