in the presence of my enemies

from the apt secret santa exchange we decided to do books with the theme of missions/missionary bios. =] Amy gave me a book titled 'in the presence of my enemies' by Gracia Burnham, and I must say it was quite an interesting read.

quick synopsis [spoiler kinda]: Gracia[gray-sha] and husband, Martin, are kidnapped by abu sayyaf-linked to al queda, while serving as missionaries in the philippines.

So many times, as I was reading it, I thought, how unfair, how could they[abu sayyaf] think this? and the thought process of both Martin and Gracia, were hard to digest at times, to understand how they were feeling a fraction of the time, and what i take for granted here in my comfortable house, in my comfortable room.

a toothbrush was a commodity and so precious to them; you wouldn't think it was such a big deal, but it was. being fed daily, something of nutritional value, was scarce; yet it is something that we are so blessed with in this nation, even with the economic hardships, we don't necessarily have to worry when our next meal is. it is such a different mind set. even as they transitioned from missionaries to prisioners it was amazing how much they clung to the truth of God's word and the promises He makes.

"Nor would the Abu Sayyaf evr think of turning away from a tempting situation. Temptation, in their view, was something to be eradicated from the world by rules, not something to resist through personal discipline. That's why they wanted an Islamic state. In such a place, there would be no bad movies, no prostitutes, stealing or cheating, because the rules would be so stringent that people would be afraid to do anything wrong...'If you remove the temptation, there will be no sin'" [164]

and to counter this

"Scripture tells us that everyone is tempted, but you have a choice about what to do with that temptation. God always works on the heart of a person. It's not outside temptations that make us sin; it's our sinful heart, and God wants to change that heart."

how true is that. how well did i need to be reminded of this especially during these last couple weeks at home. it is not the outside of the person, the external in which everyone can see and praise and laud; no rather it is the internal, in which only the person themselves and God Himself can see. no one else. there is where the truth lies.