Two Women

Two Women (1,104)

April 2nd, 2011

Two women—one in China, one in Delaware, Ohio.

Both of them devastated and ravaged by a life-threatening tragedy. The lady in China brought to the point of death by the complications of childbirth. The dear woman in Delaware, Ohio, struck down by a car and left in a coma.

Prayers.

Now quite honestly, it wouldn’t be the first thing to cross the minds of either of these two souls. That girl, raised in China, although absolutely delightful and possessing the spark of life, was never given insight during her upbringing about the presence of a loving God. And that woman in Delaware grew up surrounded by religion, but never took it into her own life nor found any peace in its precepts.

Still, prayers went forth. The Bible says, “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Now, our prayers were effective—pointed and specific. They certainly were fervent, energized by a passion to see mercy performed. Righteous? Who knows such things? All you can hope is that “two out of three ain’t bad.”

A very short time passes and God, in His infinite grace, touches both ladies, worlds apart, with the same healing power and sets in motion the process for complete restoration. Amazing. Dare I be so presumptuous as to say “as it should be?”

We continue our story. Two other women—both called of God to the mission of sharing the gospel. They had studied themselves to be approved unto Him—workmen not ashamed. They had a heart’s desire. Both of them had a wish—and in the midst of the pursuit of their mission and calling, they are stymied by two lesser fellows. Yes … men, who neither had calling nor insight on the issue—just the domination of years and years of tradition and repetition.

These two women were not given their opportunity to express the full height and breadth and power of their abilities. Why? Now there’s an interesting question. For after all, they were believers. They were intensely involved in relationships with God. They didn’t grow up in China and they hadn’t found the gospel to be unfulfilling. But in a moment when they should have been allowed to spread their wings and express themselves freely, they found themselves subjugated—subordinate.

There will be no miracle here. Just business as usual.

Jesus said, “He who the son has set free is free indeed.” Isn’t the true sign of spirituality possessing the freedom to act on our conscience and our talents? And if that isn’t spirituality, what is it? It certainly has to be something other than doing what someone else says out of fear of consequences.

Two sets, two women each. Two who seemingly had no established relationship with the God of the universe, who were granted restitution for their bodies. And two who had committed themselves to sharing the good news, who found themselves beneath the purview of weaker minions.

Freedom.

We must realize that God allowed His son to die to maintain its integrity. To take it away from another person is to remove God from the soul.

It is not something I wish to have on my conscience.