Living Hope Series

That’s what happened to Andrew Brunson, a Christian pastor from North Carolina, who spent 20 years in Turkey. He had a quiet ministry there until 2016, when after a failed military coup, the government arrested him along with journalists, activists, military officers, and others. The Turkish government labeled Brunson a spy.

Brunson was held for more than a year without charges. He spent nearly two years in prison, often enduring long trial sessions. At one point, it looked like he could spend years or even decades in Turkish prisons. Finally, after pressure from the Trump administration, Brunson was released from prison and returned to the United States.

In a recent Wheaton College chapel talk (March 8, 2019), Brunson candidly said that he did not feel God’s overwhelming presence during his stay in prison. Instead, he experienced something even deeper. Brunson said, “[After a few days in prison], I completely lost the sense of God’s presence. God was silent. And he remained silent for two years.”

When he was finally brought to trial, things were even worse. He says:

There are some who go into the valley of testing and some do not make it out… I was broken. I lay there alone in my solitary cell, I had great fear, terrible grief, and I was weeping. And the thought kept going through my mind, Where are you God? Why are you so far away? And I opened my mouth as I wept aloud, and I was surprised at what I heard coming out of my mouth. I heard, “I love you Jesus. I love you Jesus. I love you Jesus.” I thought here is my victory. Even if you’re silent, I love you. Even if you let my enemy harm me, I love you. (YouTube, Wheaton College Chapel, 3-8-19, www.youtube.com/watch?v= 0pQaj1L05CE; www.PreachingToday.com)

Brunson’s faith was real, able to withstand great trial.

Warren Wiersbe once said: A realist is an idealist who has gone through the fire and been purified. A skeptic is an idealist who has gone through the fire and been burned. (CT Classics, www.christianitytoday.com, 10-26-06)

If your faith is in anything else but Christ, you will be burned by your trials. But if your faith is in Christ, those trials will only purify your faith.

So be glad even in times of pain. Be glad because of the praise that will come.

And be glad because the purpose of your faith is being realized. Rejoice because your trials are right now bringing you to the goal of your faith, which is your ultimate salvation.

1 Peter 1:8-9 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (ESV)

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is being…certain of what we do not see.” You don’t see Jesus, but you love Him and we are extremely joyful. That’s true faith, my friends, and because of that faith, you are right now in the process of obtaining the goal of your faith. The verb in verse 9 is in the present tense. That means it is a present, continuous reality in the life of every believer. You are right now in the process of obtaining the goal of your faith, which is total and complete deliverance from all sin.