This month, our meditation has been excerpted from the book entitled Extreme Devotion, compiled by Voice Of the Martyrs. In the following passage, the account of school children in Sudan provides us with fodder for reflection and perhaps application:
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68)
Seated on logs under the shade of a tree, the 230 Christian students were just beginning their English lesson when they heard the terrifying sounds overhead. A plane roared across the sky above the school yard. Within minutes, the Islamic army had dropped five bombs from a large Russian-made bomber.
Terrified and screaming, the children immediately started running. Two of the bombs landed in dry trenches around the village, and another failed to detonate.
Unfortunately, the other two nail-studded bombs landed squarely among the frightened students. The explosion was tremendous. The damage, unthinkable.
By 9:15 A.M., the bomber was gone, and the horrible reality began to set in. Students wandered dazed around the school yard, crying and bleeding. Twelve of their classmates ranging in age from nine to sixteen had not survived the blast. Their beloved young teacher, Roda Ismail, also lay dead among the rubble.
Another seven students lost their battle for survival in the days following the attack, and three had to have limbs amputated.
The very next day, children showed up for school as usual. The exhausted and despondent schoolmaster told them to go home. "I cannot tell you when or if we will resume classes."
A ten-year-old boy approached him and said, "Please let us continue. We want to learn, and if it is God's will, then today we won't die."
FURTHER: Life at the crossroads. We've all been there, wavering between giving up and going on. Like the schoolboy, the crowds who were following Jesus one day realized the path they were on was fraught with danger. Like the despondent schoolmaster, many in the crowd headed for home, not able to say if or when they would continue to follow Christ. Yet Peter and the other disciples remained. The schoolboy's solemn request echoes Peter's response, "Let us continue." When we are tempted to give up, let us continue. When it seems like following Christ is too difficult, let us continue. Are you facing the crossroads of commitment? Ask God to give you the strength to go on instead of giving up.
A moment of consideration: Everyday life... Many of us live from time to time, some from event to event. For many, things never seem to change, or we don't want them to change, and cannot comprehend such a concept. Things should just stay the same, thank you very much. There is a saying that is remarkably true, that the only constant is change. The phrase "the only constant is change" suggests that everything in life is subject to transformation, and the only thing that remains the same is the presence of change itself. This idea, attributed to the philosopher Heraclitus, emphasizes the importance of adaptability in navigating life's uncertainties. We Christians know that God Himself does not change. That’s important to our ability and reasons to trust Him in His judgments and compassions. But if change itself is constant, how might we respond to change? Sydney J. Harris once quipped, "The first great rule in life is to put up with things; the second great rule is to refuse to put up with things; and the third--and hardest--great rule is to carefully distinguish between the first two." The same holds true with putting up with change; we know that Christ Himself causes change, and we are to be His agents in this. We should be sensitive to those changes Christ brings and be prepared to fulfill our roles as His agents. Being aware of this, each day, we continue to walk about, meet with friends, cherish family, go to our jobs, and enjoy life; we enjoy these times, and changes can happen in any of these activities. But there are also things that might disrupt our peaceful lifestyle happen and may get us wondering if an idyllic life is quite so real. Ever wonder what all happens on an average day in the U.S.? According to American Way, two statisticians who have spent much time studying the matter have concluded that on a typical day in this country:
- 5,962 couples marry and 2,986 divorce
- drunk drivers do $18 million worth of damage
- 90 million cans of beer are consumed
- 2,740 teenagers get pregnant
- 63,288 cars crash killing 129 people
- 3,231 women have abortions
- 5,200 people die,
- 1,070 of cancer.
Surely the school kids noted in the opening paragraphs had wished their parents goodbye and traipsed off to school, anticipating a fun school day. Things were going great; at school, they played for a few minutes with friends, and then sat down to begin their English studies for the day. Their idyllic life was about to change, in the simple act of looking up distractedly from a schoolbook and seeing a plane flying over. Then their world changed abruptly. We do not know the future; nor do we know what will happen in the next minute.
Saul was headed to Damascus to rout out Christian believers and jail them. But he got distracted by a bright light, and his life changed forever. (Acts 9:1-9) Sometimes good, sometimes bad happens. Christ's followers had learned a lot from Jesus Christ while He walked with them, and talked with them. The disciples could not consider the possibility of his upcoming passion, and in effect railed against the thought that their lives were about to change. (Matthew 16:21-23) The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress. (Charles Kettering) We look at the world and see the massive changes happening, such as earthquakes, as well as storms of great magnitude popping up around the world and volcanic eruptions, political unrest, wars and reports of wars, violence of political parties and followers are just some examples, according to Prophecy News Headlines. William Cullen Bryant remarked, "weep not that the world changes--did it keep a stable, changeless state, ‘twere a cause indeed to weep." In fact, according to Harry Emerson Fosdick, "Christians are supposed not merely to endure change, nor even profit by it, but to cause it." This would be true for us, as it was for Christ Jesus. Our heavenly Father would have us active in this world to bring it the Good News and change lives. In God's Word, the apostle Paul told the church in Corinth, of the changes we will go through in the last days. (1 Corinthians 15:51-54) If Christ didn't make this change in us, as He did in our salvation and redemption, we would be left hopelessly mired in sin.
Each of us should probably live as if at a crossroad, with the knowledge that at any point, in any day, we may experience the alteration to our lives that the persecuted Christians in the opening paragraphs experienced, the pain we don't want, the loss we don't expect or dream of. We don't know the future, or the change that will be imposed on us in it. Digital ID and social credit systems loom in the future, avian flu showing up in local biomes, we expect more societal violence, more unrest, etc. Though we don't know the future, we know that Christ has said He will never leave us or forsake us. It is important to abide in Christ during these uncertain days, to communicate regularly with Him, to grant His Word access to our hearts and lives and to commit our ways to Him, seeking ways to apply His teachings. It is ours to persevere, to be true to God no matter the cost, faithful in the Lord, and to rely on His strength and courage. The prophetic clock continues to tick. Paraphrasing the words of the young school boy in Sudan, let’s say “Please let us continue. We want to learn, and if it is Your will, today we will live and exalt You.” This is the day that the Lord has made; enjoy it and be glad for the changes it might bring. When we are tempted to give up, let us continue. Traian Dors (a Romanian) was faced with recommendations that he should just give up and stop; his example is a good one to echo the Sudanese lad in saying Please let us continue. When it seems like following Christ is too difficult, let us continue. This too was the experience of Christians in Cano, Peru, in 1991. We are indeed surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, urging us to continue. May we do so as God permits and protects.