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A Strange Way to Glory

She stood before her husband, staring through the bars of a prison door at a broken shell of a man, nearly unrecognizable after the torture he survived. He slipped her a sliver of paper, with words scribbled hastily, telling his faith in Christ. These words would change her life and the lives of countless others, as she soon confessed Christ, was arrested and went on to lead women in worship of her Savior under cover of the prison outhouse. We only know of her story because of her eventual release and escape to South Korea. This account, taken from Open Doors World Watch List 2017, describes the shocking reality of Christians living in North Korea, number one in the world for extreme persecution of Christians. 

It's a strange way to glory.

I have no context for this. I live quite comfortably. I pray in restaurants with my family before I eat. I invite friends and neighbors into my home for bible study and just this morning I had a conversation on my back deck with my husband about ministry dreams and the spiritual development of my children. The young woman from North Korea has no context for my life either. I did these things without fear of who would hear, what anyone would think, and had not the slightest concern for my safety. I enjoy freedoms Christians around the world have never had. And yet God’s message is for us all:

“Dear friends (the apostle Peter declares), I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” 1 Peter 1:11-12

And what “wages war” against my soul? A desire for justice against those who would do wrong to me? For my hurt feelings? For an act I deem unfair to me or my family? What about wanting things done my way? What about a thirst for something other than my Christ? How have I ignored the persecution he endured for all humanity? How does my American version Jesus reflect the real Jesus Christ of the Bible?

My, my - it's a strange way to glory.

My response to my discomfort (not even close to persecution) often goes unchecked with a hasty response or an action taken I later regret. And this North Korean woman proclaims Christ. Not in her backyard, her home or in a restaurant, but in the crude toilet of a prison, singing praises to her King because she knows this is not her home. She is a stranger here on this earth, born of it, but not belonging to it. 

This is a strange way to glory.

Our comfortable Christianity is slowly slipping away, and the good deeds Peter talks about are hard to display from a heart that doesn’t know how to respond to disagreement, to immorality, to loving people in the face of these things and more.

When you someday face persecution, how will you respond? I pray it will be with good deeds that lead to a strange and victorious glory.

Taking Stock

I’m taking stock today of…

A mother, who gave birth to this breeched and mixed up baby, teenager and young mother.

Two grandmothers, who taught me hospitality and perseverance.

Two daughters, who daily challenge and thrill me with their young womanhood.

Three aunts, dotting on an only niece with favorite foods and thoughtful gift giving.

Two mothers-in-law, who treat me as if they gave birth to me.

Three great-grandmothers, a grand pleasure to know and be known by such wisdom.

Dozens of teachers, giving countless hours that my desire for knowledge might be quenched.

Two cousins (we are a family of mostly boys), who giggled in church basements and Christmases.

Countless friends, some who are more like sisters, or what I imagine a sister would be. 

These are just the immediate women I am blessed to know and who in some big and small ways have come to know me. Add the presence of those I have met through social media (mostly the only reason I still bother with it), and I don’t have time to do the math. They have influenced and taught me lessons on life, spoken or observed, positive or not so much, for the last forty-something years. And as I stop to contemplate the lessons learned, I wonder at the experience of a woman’s life, the great opportunity that waits for us, if we are willing to share it. That God would create such a beautiful creature as a helper for a man, to walk beside, and to create herself, whether more humanity or to feed into the created all around her. Women, we are here for extraordinary purposes.

Today, celebrate all the women in your life. Women, celebrate other women.  Notice the specialness breathed into each one by their creator. And let your life be on display for who you are first and foremost – a child of God – uniquely made and loved for this day and everyday you have breath in your lungs, to love, to show mercy, to speak into the life all around you.