Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In my last ”Weekly Update” I left you all with the challeng to think and dwell on things of good report as it is written in Philipians 4.

”8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

Well, no more than two hours after I asked you to do this, I was given a huge challenge from God to do the same. On my way home from the University of Costa Rica I was the victim of an armed robbery and near abduction.

Now, knowing just this much already, and none of the details, let’s do our best to dwell on the glory of God and the fullfillment of His Word in this situation. I think that by the end of this slightly different analysis of what happened, we may all have a humbler heart.

After dwelling for a while on the Godliness involved in loneliness, my soul was comforted and my spirit ready to listen and obey. At the bus stop, a group of three young people assaulted me with knives and began robbing me. Although my body wanted to react in natural and instinctive ways of self defense and fear, I felt an immense sense of peace; the knowledge that God is my protector and He is near, and the wisdom to let my gentleness be evident to all.

My attackers ordered my to follow them down a dark street, but God was my light. They made me hold the hand of their female partner and embrace her as if we were a couple. I began asking her questions about where she was from, and how she knew the other two men. God gave me the comfort and strength to stand tall and not fear their evil acts. I was seated on the guardrail of a bridge and interrogated and God’s protective hand prevented them from pushing. I was left in an empty lot behind an abandoned building in an unfamiliar place, but the Holy Spirit comforted me still, and guided me home.

Friends, we have no reason to fear evil. The Bible calls the wise man one who shuns, hate, flees, and avoids evil, but NOT one who is afraid. When Timothy was traveling to Corinth on behalf of Paul in I Corinthians, Paul advised the members of the Church in Corinth to ‘’see to it that Timothy has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am.”

This is the same mentality we should all have. In this spirit, you are empowered to dwell only on things of good report, even while acknowledging the presense of evil in the world. And more, when you come into my home, it is my charge to ensure that you have nothing to fear.

May our holy God God of peace guide you continually to a reconciled spirit, and a humble and gentle heart. Amen.

All for the King and His Kingdom,
Justin Weekly

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 at 2:43 pm and is filed under Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.