them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you. And pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.” He needed this same attitude toward the man he had led to the Lord earlier. He took the New Testament he was hold ing and slammed it down on the table and exclaimed, “You can't be serious? Have you ever had anyone slap you around or spit in your face? You don’t know what it means to leave everything and evacuate your life’s work. You have no idea what I went through.” He had the mistaken idea, as do a number of people, that the only way one can understand another is if you have experienced his same conflicts. Have you ever stopped to think what kind of training it would take to be a counselor if I had to experience everything every body else goes through? I would need to be a robber, thief, liar, adulterer, and even come to grips with death it self. To set a broken arm, a doctor doesn’t have to break his own. I told the missionary, “Much more impor tant than whether or not I’ve been through what you’ve experienced, is what the Word of God has to say to you in your present situation.” Can you realize all those things that happened to that missionary? He had enemies who cursed and hated him. Jesus said, “In the face of such treatment, love the people who did it. Think in terms of being a blessing to them.” I grant you, that’s not nor mal. It requires strength and grace that’s supernatural. I wrote a book, “The Struggle for Peace.” This was the very reason I wanted to have the material printed, for there are so many with this need. Now, here’s a prospect of peace. The whole idea was repulsive to the missionary. He had been to college and seminary, and was willing to lay down his life, forsaking homeland and friends to communicate these very principles to the people of the Congo. So many times when things 14
don’t go the way we want them to our tendency is to enjoy our misery. This can be quite acceptable and de sirable as we pinch ourselves. Why is it people struggle so against peace? Have you wallowed around in self- pity and misery? Have you jumped on the missionary’s side thinking you should have sympathy? The best news I could give that man was to make it clear that he had access to a Power far above his own. Only by following the Lord's principles can we have a spirit of wanting to be a blessing to others. Do you have a burden of prayer for those who de spitefully use you? This is really victory. We need the right kind of attitude when things aren’t going the way you think they should. Yet people struggle for their own way rather than the Lord’s. One day this missionary came to me looking as though the burdens of the world had rolled off his shoulders. And he after many interviews, said, “I guess I won’t need to talk to you anymore. I yielded my heart to God. At the point where I was willing to love this national, God filled my heart with love toward him.” May his story be a lesson to us. Don’t fight against peace. Surrender your self to the Lord. Don’t sit there nurs ing your grudges, feeling sorry for yourself. Jesus Christ will give you power enabling you to love your enemy and to live above your cir cumstances. You can be a blessing to people who curse you. If you want this kind of spirit, all you need do is to invite the Saviour to come into your life and have complete control in every area of your daily experi ence. P art S ix W e can find real contentment in life, not because our circum stances change, but because we do. A change of heart is based on our yielding ourselves to the power of
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