Ms S – a story of trial and salvation

Yesterday a friend sent me a picture of Ms S. I have never met her but her story moved me to tears. My friend works with tribal people in Asia. He texted me an update on the highs and lows of missionary life. The story I share is an example of that. It can be repeated all over the world.

A few hours later I heard of a lovely Christian man in the UK who has been given some bad news from his doctor and I wept.

A few days ago I sat with a retired Pastor who is in such pain with his cancer and I prayed that Jesus would step in to his situation and heal him.

This morning I received a text from a friend in a difficult country. One of his Church planters, KB, returned home after being abducted by militants and though we are thankful to God he is unharmed physically he is now very traumatised.

Every day, every moment, across this globe beautiful people of God are going through grave difficulties of some sort. Maybe you are too.

Having written of the power of salvation, Peter, still in the middle of this hymn-like praise declaration continues:

“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. 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.” (1 Peter 1 v 6-9)

Let’s go back to the story of Ms S.

Ms S. was born and grew up in a remote tribal jungle village in Asia. The area has many drug factories and the people live on opium. Her family were so poor that when a man from the city came looking for a young wife they gave their daughter, S, to him, she was only 15 years at the time. Tragically the next chapter of her life was the opposite of love for her. She was trafficked into the sex industry and she caught HIV before she was 20 years of age. Forced to go back to her village the tribal law meant she had to live in isolation in a very small bamboo hut. She developed a stomach tumour and had reached such low depression that she contemplated suicide.

However, an outreach mission team reached her just in time and led her to Jesus. She began to recover and started to grow vegetables and would always bring her first-fruits from what she grew to the church as a thanksgiving offering to the Lord.

Ms S became known as a very dear bright light in a dark world as she loved and served Jesus. He had saved her and she lived a thankful life. But she was still sick and during a tumour operation she died during surgery, only in her mid-30’s.

It isn’t the end for Ms S for when she passed from this life she fully realised what the salvation of her soul meant, she was indeed saved!

I tell stories like this because these are people of value and they teach us how to walk with Jesus even during the toughness and cruelty of life.

I match the emboldened words with those within the text of Peter.

She suffered all kinds of trials on this earth a little while.

She proved that her faith was genuine and was more worthy than gold though she had nothing.

She loved him, she believed in him and her life was joy-filled because of Jesus.

She received the salvation she longed for, the end result of a life of faith.

We don’t know what today holds but we know who holds us. All we need do is hold onto Him. The trial is temporary and one day we will join Ms S and others and it will be so worth it for we will be saved.