I love to read and I've been reading ALOT this summer! I just finished a book by Gracia Burnham called "In the Presence Of My Enemies". She powerfully tells the story of her and her husband, Martin's, year-long captivity by terrorists in the Philippine jungle. She and Martin had been serving as missionaries there in the Philippines for 15 years and were kidnapped while they were celebrating their anniversary at an island resort. Gracia chronicles their struggle to survive, their conversations with the other hostages, their relationships with their captors, their heartbreak over being separated from their 3 children, their thankfulness for God's special gifts to them along the way, their love and encouragement to one another during that dark time. She writes about becoming especially depressed one day...Martin talked with her about it and basically she said, "I believe that God sent his son to die for me...I believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world...I believe the Bible is God's Word...but I just can't believe that God loves me." She was miserable for 3 days until she came to realize that God truly did love her. I've thought about that often since I read her testimony. Then, when I couldn't sleep a few nights ago, I was reading John 12:27 where Jesus said, "
Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!" It struck me that I serve a Savior who could have asked for an escape from pain, but it was through His pain that God was glorified. It made me think about all the times that I ask for a "way of escape" from painful or uncomfortable circumstances. I should be praying that God would glorify (make Himself BIGGER) Himself through the circumstance. That's what Marcia Burnham has allowed God to do with her life...and I think that God HAS glorified Himself through her!
