Cozie Blog

Wow, I was just reading through the February 2007 issue of VOICE OF THE MARTYRS.  I always cry when I read those.  They always reveal to me (again and again) how spoiled I am.  Anyways, this is going to be long, but I’m going to re-type the first article in there… it is not a tear-jerker, but rather, an eye-opener.  Please read the whole thing.  🙂

 

"Where was my ‘God bless you’?" by Tom White

My education has been unusual.  Some of my teachers have been Christians who loved those who might never love them back.  Our family lived under the same roof as Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand.  They consistently showed love toward everyone.  From a prison guard in Romania to a flower delivery girl in California, they never missed a chance to share the love of Christ.

We had dinner with Corrie Ten Boom, who maintained her Christian witness to those who had been guards in the Nazi extermination camps.  Corrie held our daughter, Dorothy, so my wife, Ofelia, coud cut potatoes.

I have been in the home of Chinese pastor, Allen Yuan, imprisoned 22 years.  His home was so full, many of us had to go sit on his bed.  The Chinese government was so afraid of this man’s lover, the PSB (secret police) always watched him.  But then they heard about Jesus, too.

One yound Vietnamese Christian woman, arrested many times, touched the hearts of many policemen.  During her interrogation, the officers were warmed by her gracious love as she seized her divine opportunity.  The angry chief of police ordered that she be restricted to less than one hour of interrogation beside the desk of any policeman interrogating her.

We all know the Scriptures in Matthew 5, with Jesus’  words about loving those unlovable ones, but some Scripture doesn’t stick until you see it in action.  Having had such unusual teachers, I decided to try this myself.  During my time in solitary confinement in the Cuban prison, I would only see this young guard for a few seconds as he swung the steel door open and laid my food on the floor.  I would say to him in Spanish, "God bless you," or "Jesus bless you."

One day, my mind must have been occupied and I forgot to inject the blessing before the bolt was slammed to shut the door.  As I was eating with my spoon, the door opened again.  I looked up to see the young man spread out his hands in an appeal.  In a pleading manner, he exclaimed in Spanish, "Hey, where was my ‘God bless you’?"

The month of February is supposed to be a time of love.  Why don’t we all do something unusual– send a card or a letter to someone who doesn’t deserve it?  Why don’t we accomplish the supernatural?  We may never know its effect in this life, but the harvest will be the Lord’s.

Do you have a grouchy relative?  It’s likely you do.  We had a relative who cut us off for seven years and didn’t write back.  Then they moved to our town.  In their final years of life, it was my divine opportunity to visit them, take them shopping and love them, even though most people still avoided their negative comments like the plague.  I was presented with an opportunity to let Christ’s love work through me without the traditional rewards we think we deserve.  Oh, I got upset with them at times, but that was only a feeling.  God’s love is an act flowing from a decision.

Some may think that bitter, mean, unlovely people get what they deserve.  They end up alone in life because they have forced everyone out of their circle.  Well, what do I deserve from God?  I deserve nothing.  But the Holy Spirit constantly seeks to surround me with Himself.  Shouldn’t I have that same attitude toward others?  It doesn’t take a prison guard, foreign country or dramatic even to present to us a divine opportunity to manifest supernatural agape love.  It is the grouchy neighbor, the introverted office worker, the foul-mouthed factory man, the relative who won’t return those phone calls.  The bitter, angry, troubled individual around us need to see a gracious, merciful God.  Whether they change is not the question.  They are not our projects or our trophies.  They are eternal beings who need to be exposed to supernatural love.  Any results are His.

Pick up the phone, write that note or take some fresh bread over.  Your is not a "thankless" mission.  Though we cannot expect to receive a thank you from the world, we will receive one in heaven (Luke 17:7-10).  Don’t avoid what could be one of the most beautiful actions in your life.