Standing Strong Through the Storm
WALK IN VICTORY
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
Our trust is not in a God who uses his power without a plan or at His whim. Rather our trust is in a loving, purposeful God who promises that all thing work together for good for those who love Him.
No one believes this any more than Kim Phuc. She is known as the picture girl from the Vietnam war. The Pulitzer Prize winning photo seen around the world was snapped on June 8, 1972 following a South Vietnamese napalm attack on Trang Bang village. Nine-year-old Kim is seen running down the road toward the camera, naked and screaming in pain.
Living in constant pain as a result of the horrific injuries she suffered, Kim recalls she was bitter and filled with hatred asking the universal question, “Why me? Why do I have to suffer like this?”
As a teenager, she encountered a Vietnamese Bible in a library. Impressed with Jesus and His teaching, she became a believer in 1982. She comments that it took years, but “God freed me from hatred and enabled me to love and forgive my enemies, to trust Him and to obey.”
She still suffers daily from excruciating pain but she now finds purpose in that pain. “The pain reminds me daily to go back to the Lord in prayer,” she says. “Then he gives me peace, energy, strength and grace to face each day…The pain is for my spiritual protection and I thank God for it.”
Kim Phuc says she wants to change the way people see her; no longer the little girl crying out of pain, but now a young woman crying out for peace. She adds, “Now He uses my picture and my everyday life to glorify Him. Now I understand the purpose of why I’m still here and why I suffer. It’s to glorify the Lord. It’s not about me. It’s about Him!”
God has a plan and purpose for our life, and through our obedience to His teaching, He is going to work in us and through us that which will ultimately bring glory to God. With this kind of faith, we will see victory.
RESPONSE: Today I will walk in victory because I will give every part of my being to glorify God
PRAYER: Lord, help me to experience the purpose and meaning You have ordained in my suffering for You.
Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS), a daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks. © 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission.