Every week we strive to encourage you in your walk with the Lord and we do this today by sharing with you a great devotional from the book Extreme Devotion. If you haven't read this book yet, you'll love it. We also offer other devotionals in our The Voice of the Martyrs bookstore.
The imprisoned Christian was hungry and irritated. A lieutenant had come to interrogate him again, and he was in no mood to be questioned. He thought, “Why should I be the one who is always interrogated?”
So he pelted the officer with questions, “Do you believe in God? What will happen to you when you die? How did this beautiful world come into existence?” Eventually, he was able share the complete salvation message with the interested officer. To the prisoner’s surprise, the lieutenant immediately gave his life to Christ!
The officer also gave his lunch to the hungry prisoner. The Christian was thankful that God would feed him and use him, even in his irritable mood.
Another time, this same man was in solitary confinement and, again, particularly hungry. Then he remembered the words of Jesus about rejoicing under persecution because it is a blessing. He immediately got up and started praising God and dancing around his small cell. His rejoicing soon got the guard’s attention.
When the guard checked on him, he was sure the Christian had gone crazy. Guards were instructed to treat the crazy ones kindly, so he brought the Christian some cheese and a loaf of bread.
Once again, God had provided. The thought struck the Christian prisoner, “It is better to be a fool in Christ than to be a ‘wise’ man who is foolishly angry about things that cannot change.”
Many people are “control freaks”—those who need to keep their world under constant control. Unfortunately, there are some things that are beyond anyone’s control. Recognizing which things we can do something about and those things we cannot control is a secret to success. For example, we can’t monitor what others say, but we can choose to pray for those who insult us. Worrying about what is beyond our control is simply human nature. What we can’t control, we try to manipulate. Yet, God says to stop manipulating circumstances and trust in him. Like the prisoner in this story, God reminds us to merely put his Word into action by fully obeying it. He will take care of the rest.
