RefreshHer

What if all you had today

was what you thanked God for yesterday?

Would you have:

A hot shower
Clean water to drink
Medicine
Nourishing food
Adequate clothing
A Bible
A church to attend

Gracia Burnahm, a hostage of the Abu Sayyaf Group of Muslims for 376 days learned to thank the Lord for things that we take for granted each day. A page of Scripture that someone sent in a letter became so precious to her and her husband while they were on the run; it became their only source of the written Word of God.

I read her book – In The Presence of My Enemies while on vacation . It opened my eyes to so much as I read about how she and her husband were taken hostage while celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary at Dos Palmas Resort off Palawan Island. During their 376 days of captivity, they faced near starvation, constant exhaustion, frequent gun battles, cold hearted murder-and intense soul-searching about a God who sometimes seemed to have forgotten them.

On June 7, 2002, in a firefight between the Philippine military and the Abu Sayyaf Group, Martin was killed. Gracia was wounded, but was freed.

Reading Gracia’s story is a reminder that all we have can be snatched away at a moment’s notice. It could come through terrorists, illness or accident. When Gracia returned home, she was so thankful for the opportunity to attend her church service and prayer meeting. She had longed for these opportunities while she was in the jungle.

How about you and me? Are we anxious for the next opportunity to meet in God’s house? Or are we mulling over whether or not we will go because we have other things we want to do? What if we knew this was our last chance to meet in God’s house for a year? Would it change our perspective?

I challenge you to get a copy of Gracia’s book and let your eyes be opened to many wonderful truths. You may think reading about terrorism is morbid, but if you watch crime shows as a past time, I would argue with you that reading about this kind of crime will benefit your spiritual life…something a crime show isn’t likely to do.

What are you thanking God for today?

In closing, here’s an invitation/reminder about our upcoming ladies’ meeting at BCBC: