In this past Sunday's message, we talked about the fact that God is in control, even when it appears sometimes that "bad things happen to good people." Of course, as believers we know that the only time a bad thing ever really happened to a truly "good" person was when Jesus was crucified for our sins, and God the Father not only allowed that to happen, He sent Him to earth for that purpose.

But sometimes it can be hard to understand when we go through difficult circumstances that don't seem right or fair. And as we discussed a few weeks back, sometimes God's will only makes sense after the fact, when we see it in reverse. Only then can we see God's sovereign fingerprints on things that we could not have understood in the moment when we were walking through it.

In that light, i wanted to share a story I heard recently that is one of those occasions that could not have been coincidence. It involved a Baptist missionary named Ralph Bethea. You may have heard of him; the Lord used him mightily to lead tens of thousands of Muslims to Christ in Kenya back in the 1980's, bringing much opposition and persecution against him and his family from militant Islam. He was truly a faithful servant of God.

After the fall of communism in the former Soviet Union, Ralph was handing out Bibles in Russia. In one home an old gentleman spoke of his desire to abandon atheistic communism to return to the faith of his mother who had been a devout Christian. He had no Bible, so Ralph gave him one. He was so excited, he clutched it to his chest, and then invited in his neighbors and read to them for four hours. One of those neighbors was a former KGB agent. Ralph led him to faith in Christ. 

When Ralph ran out of Bibles, the former KGB man told him that he knew where there were 40,000 Bibles. The KGB had confiscated them over the years. Ralph worked with the man to find them, and then bought them at an auction for $1,000. Then as everyone gathered around, Ralph opened the first box of Bibles and took out one. It had writing on it, so he handed it to the old man whom he'd first led to Christ. 

The gentleman took one look at it and began crying. This was his mother's Bible, confiscated some 30 years earlier by the secret police. It was truly a God thing.

What a wonderful reminder that even in dark times, God is still in control, He is still working behind the scenes, and He has not forgotten us. And also a good reminder that His word is truth, and it will stand the test of time. "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." (Isaiah 40:8)

May each of us recognize God's handiwork in our lives today, and may we walk in faith with Him, even in dark times. I'm praying for you, and look forward to seeing you Sunday.

--Pastor Ken