Our Relentless God

Last week during my sermon, I spoke of how Moses initially ran ahead of God in his efforts to be a deliverer of the Hebrew people. Afterwards, one of my younger daughters gave me her copy of the sermon note sheet. Among the fill-in-the-blanks and various drawing of Pharaoh, Moses, and Egyptian princesses, she had jotted down this note: “P.S. Don’t run ahead of God. He might have to pack a suitcase!”

God is relentless, isn’t He? The following illustration makes the point well. R. Kent Hughes (1001 Great Stories and Quotes, pp. 393-94) shares the story of a mission effort in Russia. In the 1930’s, Stalin ordered a purge of Christians and their Bibles. In the Russian city of Stavropol, his edict was carried out with great efficiency. Numerous believers were sent to prison camps and many of the Bibles that were confiscated ended up in a warehouse in Stavropol where they collected dust.

Many years later, when that part of Russia was again open to missionary activity, a team was sent to Stavropol. When the group experienced difficulty in getting Bibles shipped from Moscow, someone happened to mention the existence of the stash of Bibles in the warehouse. The missionary team received permission to remove and distribute them. A truck was secured and local workers hired to load them.

One helper was a young skeptic who had come just for the wages. After awhile, the missionaries noticed he was gone. They found him in a corner of the warehouse, weeping. He had slipped away, hoping to quietly take a Bible for himself. What he found shook him to the core. The inside page of the Bible he had picked up had the handwritten signature of his own grandmother. It had been her personal Bible. Out of the thousands of Bible still left in that warehouse, he had stolen the one belonging to his grandmother – a woman persecuted for her faith all her life.

Coincidence? I highly doubt it. It’s just another example of a God who doesn’t give up easily.

God loves you!
Mike