Suffering is Not the End
This has been an interesting couple of weeks for me, and I hope that you’ve enjoyed Andrew Brunson’s story as well. Once again, go and get the actual book, and I’m sure you’ll be even more blessed.
Hope in Suffering
I’m going to close by sharing Andrew’s words on page 152, where even in his tough times he said this: “I may have been a prisoner, but I had the promise of eternal life, the guarantee of ultimate freedom. My life had meaning. My life was not empty. My suffering was not the end of my story.”
I wonder if you can say that in faith today with Andrew — my suffering is not the end of my story.
Truly, this was the case. He was set free eventually, and his story has reached so many people, and so much good has come out of it.
God’s Greater Plan
He said this: “One of the main reasons I think I went through this is that there are millions of people who have prayed for Turkey. This was God’s plan all along. My assignment had been to help prepare for a spiritual harvest. Prison did not cut short my assignment — it served it in the most effective way.
“God used my imprisonment to orchestrate an unprecedented worldwide prayer movement. I rode a wave of prayer out of Turkey, but a tsunami of prayer from God’s people had crashed into Turkey, and this is going to bring great blessings to His people.
As one Turkish believer said, ‘The whole world is praying for us with a single voice — imagine what we can do with all that prayer.’”
Faith Through Trials
I wonder what blessings God is bringing through your sufferings. At the time, Andrew could not see it. He could not see it in the midst of his suffering, but later on it became clear.
His suffering was not the end of his story! And I pray that you will know that for yourself today — that God always has a way of using evil for good. The evil one can try, the evil one can knock us around like he does, but God will find a way to use it for blessing.
He did it in an incredible way in Andrew Brunson’s life, and I know — I know — He will do it in ours, if we persevere in faith and stand up for Christ, even in our prisons and even in our times of darkness.
I hope that this story has motivated you in the last two weeks, and I hope that you’ve been encouraged to face your suffering like Andrew did — to push ahead in prayer like so many did for him.
God’s going to do great things through us if we do the same in our lives.
Friends, God bless you all, and thank you for sharing these messages. Take care.
