19 August

Endurance and encouragement

“But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
Hebrews 10:38-39

Zinaida Vilchinskaya was a grandmother at the time she was arrested in the Soviet Union while carrying Christian literature. She shares a poignant episode of how one believer can encourage another in endurance during difficult circumstances:

When the police first took me to the police station, I was put in a very cold cell with bare iron bunks. The guards took my scarf and my coat, and I lay on the bunk in just a dress. I was shivering, and I started to pray. When my cellmate saw me pray, she, too, got on her knees and said, “Oh, I can’t stand it. I’m freezing too.” She started to cry softly.

“Lord,” I prayed, “if You want me to be frozen here, may Your will be done, just enable me to endure this with love, submission, and meekness. But You can help me. You can even take me out of here if that’s Your will.”

I lay back down and felt such warmth. I told the other woman, “Here, let me put my arm around you, and you’ll get warmer.” We warmed up together. Later when they transferred us to different cells, she told everyone in hers, “God warmed up Aunt Zhenya (as they called me) in our cell, and she warmed me up.”

Response

I resolve to persevere, with faith in a good God, through all the trials that come my way.

Prayer

Lord, may all Your children experiencing severe persecution today be filled with faith and refuse to shrink back. Help me to emulate these great examples of faithful perseverance.

Daily Devotional Guide

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From DAILY NUGGETS FROM THE LION’S DEN – Devotionals to help you “Stand Strong Through The Storm” by Paul Estabrooks.

Used with permission.