The pastor had been questioned and beaten often, but today the guard took him to a room to talk. He said, “I’m curious about your beliefs and ask you to tell me the Ten Commandments.”
Shocked, the pastor began to share the Commandments. When he got to “Honor your father and mother,” the officer interrupted him. “Stop there. You Christians believe that God chose ‘Honor your father and mother’ as a very important commandment. Please look in the corner.” The pastor turned to see an elderly woman chained and bruised beneath a pile of rags. She was the pastor’s own mother.
The guard inquired. “Look how much your mother has suffered. If you tell the secrets of the underground church, you and your mother can go free. If she dies from our torture, you will have failed to keep the commandment to honor her, and her blood shall be on your head.”
The pastor turned to his mother who was starting to regain consciousness. “Dear Mother, what should I do?”
Lovingly she replied, “Since you were a small boy, I have taught you to love Christ and his church. Do not betray God. I am ready to die for the holy name.”
The pastor looked back at the guard and said with renewed courage, “You were very right, Captain. First of all, a man must obey his mother.”
[i]“Why is there so much suffering in the world?” skeptics often ask when they wish to discount Christianity. They cannot reconcile a loving God who permits innocent suffering. In fact, they may try to persuade Christians who undergo suffering that their trials somehow prove God’s plans have gone awry. Is suffering truly part of God’s plan? In answer to that question, look at Jesus’ life on earth. His suffering on the cross was the heartbeat of God’s plan—resulting in our salvation and his glory. When you suffer according to God’s plan, you are walking where Jesus walked: to the cross, to the grave, and—ultimately—to the skies. Will you trust that God knows what he is doing even in your pain?