There is a wonderful book called The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken. I really think the title should have been “The Power of God”. It’s about a discouraged missionary who decided to research Christianity in persecuted countries during his furlough from Somalia. My lifelong friend gave it five stars on Goodreads, so I had to check it out. It was eye-opening.
I discovered some very interesting points of view that I had never seen before. That is, once I got over the guilt of being a privileged American who doesn’t share the gospel with hurting people in persecuted countries. For whatever reason, I am here—living a pampered life and blogging about God.
The most overarching point of the book is that God works amazing miracles when His people are persecuted. Christianity spreads like wildfire in these places. There are hundreds of millions of ardent Christians in China alone!
I also learned that God finds incredible ways—sometimes with no missionaries and no Bibles—to reach those who are lost and trapped in countries where Christianity is forbidden. He can do it without us, but He chooses to partner with us, allowing us the privilege of witnessing His work.
Another enlightening aspect of the book is that the Holy Spirit is moving in those countries much like He did in the book of Acts. And this is happening right now, in our world.
All of this showed me just how much I have underestimated the power of God on a massive level. I have shouldered the burden of spreading the gospel, when in truth God was never dependent on me to spread His Word. Yes, He asks me to take part, but what He really wants is my wholehearted devotion—so that I can live His Word. He wants me to believe in His mighty power to save. He wants me to live my wonderful, God-given, blessed life rejoicing in Him.
One of my favorite parts of the book was what a joyful Chinese believer is prepared to say in the face of persecution. Here it is slightly edited for brevity:
The security police regularly harass a believer who owns the property where a house church meets. The police say, “You have got to stop these meetings! If you do not stop them, we will confiscate your house and throw you out into the street.”
The property owner responds, “Do you want my house? Do you want my farm? If you do, you’ll need to talk to Jesus, because I gave this property to Him.”
The police reply, “We don’t have any way to get to Jesus, but we can certainly get to you! When we take your property, you and your family will have nowhere to live.”
The believers declare, “Then we will be free to trust God for shelter as well as our daily bread.”
“If you keep this up, we will beat you!”
“Then we will be free to trust Jesus for healing.”
“And then we will put you in prison!”
“Then we will be free to preach the good news of Jesus to the captives and plant churches in prison.”
“If you try to do that, we will kill you!”
And the believers reply, “Then we will be free to go to heaven and be with Jesus forever.”
What faith. What freedom.
To finish this blog—which is more like a book report—I can only recommend reading it yourself. God will probably have a special message just for you, hidden in its pages.
