Inspiration

Monday nights at our home is almost always packed with young people squeezed in around our dinner table feasting on some delicious meal that my wife has somehow put together in the midst of all her other activities. Most of the time our guests are the friends of my daughters, who have come to enjoy Monday Night dinners so much so that even when our girls are not home they still show up. On a few occasions we have invited an extra guest to come and share their story with the group which has proven to be quite an inspiration to these young men and women. This past Monday a new game came across our table which included a stack of cards with a series of personal likes or dislikes and best or worst experience type questions. One of my cards had this written on it, “What is the most inspirational story you have recently heard and tell it.” At first I wanted to simply tell the story of Jesus and move on but as I thought about it I had to admit I have heard so many inspirational stories in my life not to mention all the heroes of the Bible that have inspired me, it was hard for me to choose one. My wife pointed out it had to be something I had recently heard and so I told the story that had a strong influence on my life a couple years ago that is known as the The Heavenly Man. (you can read his story online at http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=QJy7zunxfhIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Heavenly+Man&hl=en&ei=SsXnTv6bAqzSmAWkypSeCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Heavenly%20Man&f=false )

Anyway, yesterday I stumbled across another amazing and inspirational story about a woman named Esther Ahn Kim. I will simply copy it from a book I am currently reading called “Forgotten God” by Francis Chan, a book I highly recommend to you. “It was during WW ll and the Japanese occupation of Korea that Esther’s journey of faith really began. She refused to bow down at the shrines set up in every corner of her country and was eventually imprisoned for six years from 1939-1945. Knowing she was destined for prison for refusing to bow down to idols Esther began to prepare herself both physically and spiritually. Each day she would find and eat food that was decaying, knowing that was what she would be served to eat in prison. The discipline she demonstrated is humbling, how many of us would choose to eat rotten food? While preparing for prison she memorized more than 100 chapters of the Bible and many hymns because she knew she would not be allowed to keep her Bible. She spent countless hours seeking God through fasting and prayer. These times of fasting and prayer and scripture reading lead to great clarity and she was able to surrender her fear of being tortured to Christ.” Esther did not just survive her horrific experience in prison she turned it into a thing of glory. Many lives of her fellow prisoners were touched by the love of Christ demonstrated over and over again in acts of selfless love. She brought healing to their hearts and gave them hope. Her faith in Christ brought many murderers, swindlers and outcasts and even hardened prison guards and corrupt government officials into faith in Christ during her time there.

I hope you have found a little inspiration from this tiny bit of Esther Ahn Kim’s story. May God forgive us for our complacent, comfortable, and complaining style of life. May he give us a new passion and strength to demonstrate selfless acts of love over and over again, without fanfare or need for praise to the Glory of God our Heavenly Father.