More on this book
Kindle Notes & Highlights
camp is for, I thought, to find out if we can handle adversity and take what life sends our way. I learned so much during those days. I learned that sometimes we need to go through a lot of unpleasantness in order to get the job done. That life isn’t always wonderful. That happiness is not dependent on our circumstances but on our attitudes. Little did I know how important those lessons would be sixteen years later in the Philippine rain forest.
to admit that when you’re thinking only of yourself and your own needs, you’ll do just about anything.
I knew that I had a choice. I could give in to my resentment and allow it to dig me into a deeper and deeper hole both psychologically and emotionally, or I could choose to believe what God’s Word says to be true whether I felt it was or not.
Gradually, my crisis of faith passed. I realized it would do no good to be angry with God. He had neither inspired the Abu Sayyaf to abduct us nor would he force them against their will to release us. Instead, he would sustain us day by
day, night by night, mile by mile, for as long as it took.
Another thing that helped my mental outlook, if not my body, was remembering Scripture I had memorized long ago.
Human nature seems to find ways to justify its wrongdoing, to move ahead with what serves
its self-interests, and then to figure out an explanation so it doesn’t sound so bad.
A two-and-a-half-page, single-spaced letter from my niece, Sarah Tunis, included long quotations from Ephesians 1, James 4, Colossians 1, and Philippians 1, among others. This became our “Bible”—we read it every day.
“I’ve seen each of these things in myself. The Lord has been showing me how incredibly sinful I am.” He then proceeded to go back through the list.
We sat in the hammock a minute. Martin was in a reflective mood. He said, “I really don’t know why this has happened to us. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Psalm 100—what it says about serving the Lord with gladness. This may not seem much like serving the Lord, but that’s what we’re doing, you know? We may not leave this jungle alive, but we can leave this world serving the Lord ‘with gladness’; we can ‘come before his presence with singing’ [Psalm 100:2, KJV].”
They need to know what it feels like to be forgiven. They need us to show we care.
People in today’s world, whether Muslim or not, will not pay attention to Christians because we can explain our theology in crystal-clear terms. They will not esteem us because we give to charity or maintain a positive outlook on life. What will impress them is genuine love in our hearts.
And I resolve to keep living in the embrace of God’s gladness and love for as long as he gives me breath.
“Interestingly enough,” I continued, “the future of the Abu Sayyaf is also your future. Your knee will bow, your tongue will acknowledge who Jesus is as well. The question is whether you and I will do so voluntarily or not.”
In fact, Christianity is more than a crutch; it’s a stretcher. It carries us where we can never hope to go on our own power.
