Revelation 7:9-10 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
Have you ever heard how the Karen people of Burma were prepared for the gospel? This unique people’s history reveals how the Lord had sovereignly preserved, in their traditions, their yearning for the one true God.
For centuries, the Karen people rejected the teachings of Buddhism and spiritism and clung to their ancient understanding of the true God, whom they called “Y’wa”, suggesting the influence of the Hebrew, “Yahweh”. Karen traditions also point to Adam and Eve and their fall, in the garden of Eden. According to the tradition, because of transgressions, they fell from grace. An ancient poem powerfully expresses their hope and expectation of redemption:
“O children and grandchildren! If we repent of our sins, and cease to do evil–restraining our passions–and pray to Y’wa, he will have mercy on us again. If Y’wa does not have mercy on us, there is no other one who can. He who saves us is the only one – Y’wa.”
Their stories relate how they negligently lost the ancient books of Y’wa, and were now anxiously awaiting the “white men”, who would restore the ancient books to them.
Another Karen poem is virtually “prophetic”:
“The sons of Y’wa, the white foreigners, obtained the words of Y’wa. The white foreigners, the children of Y’wa, obtained the words of Y’wa anciently.”
In the late 1800’s Christian missionaries arrived in Burma bringing the gospel of Jesus. Their message was overwhelmingly received! Today a majority of the Karen people are believers, because God had prepared their hearts to receive the message over hundreds of years. The Karen waited expectantly for the “white man’s” message of redemption from “Y’wa”, and “Y’wa” proved faithful to reach and redeem these Burmese tribes, in His time.
As we continue to share the good news, let’s remember that the Lord initiates the work of redemption — and that we need to stay focused on the job at hand, and continue to labor in the harvest fields. The seed we’ve planted in patience, will soon bear fruit; so let us not grow weary in well doing, for we shall reap if we faint not!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]This is a story relayed by Corrie Ten Boom, “It was Christmas, 1944. My sister, Betsie, had died. I was in a hospital barracks in Ravensbruck, a Nazi prison camp. Dark it was in my heart, and darkness was around me. There were Christmas trees in the street between the barracks. Dead bodies of prisoners had been thrown under the Christmas trees. I tried to talk to the people around me about Christmas, but they mocked and sneered. At last I kept quiet.
I came across an old legend about three cowboys crossing the desert on horseback by night. Suddenly, as they reached a rocky spot, a voice came from heaven and commanded them: “Friends, pick up some pebbles, put them in your pockets and do not look at them till morning.” The men looked at each other in astonishment and began to do as they were told. The voice went on to promise that if they obeyed, they would be both glad and sad. The perplexed men put a few pebbles each in their pockets and went on their way.
Once upon a time, there was a prince who received a very rare and beautiful bird. He named her Goldie and placed her in a lovely, 14K gold cage. But the poor creature was not impressed by the gold at all. She pleaded for her freedom but the prince loved her much too much to part with her. Still, she continued to beg. In final desperation, she asked that he at least allow her go to her relatives and tell them that, though captive, she was still alive.
The baby that came into the world through the scenario above was named Ishmael. According to Islamic belief, it was Ishmael that was offered as a sacrifice by Abraham, and through him that they became the rightful inheritors of the promises of God. In other words, Ishmael was the seed through which Islam was born. Hmmm.
When Jim Burke became the head of a new products division at Johnson & Johnson, one of his first projects was the development of a children’s chest rub. The product failed miserably, and Burke expected that he would be fired. When he was called in to see the chairman of the board, however, he met a surprising reception. “Are you the one who just cost us all that money?” asked Robert Wood Johnson. “Well I just want to congratulate you. If you are making mistakes, that means you are taking risks, and we won’t grow unless you take risks!” Apparently, Mr. Johnson wasn’t joking! Years later, Johnson & Johnson remains one of the largest multi-national manufacturers of pharmaceutical, diagnostic, therapeutic, surgical, personal hygiene, baby and biotechnology products.
In her book, Let Me Be a Woman, Elizabeth Elliot records the story of a friend who had great difficulty accepting the looks God had given her. While everyone this girl knew had grown beautiful golden hair, hers was black. And while they were all still growing, she had stopped. She grew to be only about four feet ten inches tall.
“A young man enlisted, and was sent to his regiment. The first night he was in the barracks with about fifteen other young men, who passed the time playing cards and gambling. Before retiring, he fell on his knees and prayed, and they began to curse him and jeer at him and throw boots at him. So it went on the next night and the next, and finally the young man went and told the chaplain what had taken place, and asked what he should do. ‘Well,’ said the chaplain, ‘you are not at home now, and the other men have just as much right to the barracks as you have. It makes them mad to hear you pray, and the Lord will hear you just as well if you say your prayers in bed and don’t provoke them.’