Moment By Moment
Kim Phuc's book Fire Road has taught me so much, and I hope you've been blessed by the insights I've shared from her this week. Kim's skin was, essentially, permanently painful after the bomb, and for much of her life she struggled to stay positive through the pain. But she had found God, and so she writes on page 160: "I was challenged almost to the point of despondence every day. But I determined to choose God, which meant seizing every spare moment to read His Scriptures, letting Him put His law in my heart... The peace I began to discover," she says, "preserved me from outright despair."
And Kim would pray to God and ask through her tears that He teach her to be content like Paul was through his trials. She would pray "teach me this special secret of living so that I'm not overtaken by despair."
The Power of Choosing Joy
Soon enough, Kim was known around town as the girl who was always smiling. What a contrast to the famous picture of her running in terror! Kim writes: "I had not stumbled upon a freedom that the world could detect – freedom from communism, oppression, pain. But inside – on the level of my soul – I was settling into a type of contentment that paid little mind to external things."
Friends, it's not easy to live with constant pain. Some of you know this firsthand. And so often, like Kim, we find that our pain rocks our faith, and gets us despondent, and unhappy. It's normal, I think, to respond to pain this way.
Finding Strength in Daily Surrender
But Kim's determination to choose God moment by moment really spoke to me. Her determination to be content in spite of her pain is such a godly, Spirit-filled trait! And I wonder if you need to start praying that prayer she prayed, asking God to teach you the secret of contentment, even through the pain you feel. I wonder if you need to learn from Kim Phuc today, and fill your mind and heart with God's Scripture so that you may find the peace that can preserve you from despair.
Christianity is not a Sunday-by-Sunday religion, or even a day-by-day religion. It's a moment-by-moment relying on God and His power and love to sustain you.
Whatever you might be going through, and whatever pain might be ravaging you, begin asking God for the gift of contentment.
Maybe in your street, or complex, or neighbourhood, you might become known as the person who's always smiling, even though you might be struggling with searing pain that nobody else sees.
Perhaps this is what Paul meant when he encouraged the Christian people to "shine like stars" (Philippians 2:15).
