Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 1:17-18
Marya’s family were Christians under Communism. She shares an inspiring, story of gratitude in all.
The Bible book of Thessalonians exhorts us to “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (I Thessalonians 1:17-18). One family’s legacy of faith powerfully demonstrates the courageous application of this scripture.
Marya’s father was allowed to hold services in his church, but could conduct no outside activities. Each week, he would prepare his sermon, make copies of it, and distribute them in the town’s marketplace. About every other month, he was arrested in the middle of night and held for days in total darkness, enduring disorienting interrogations.
One day, the Communists decided to seize the land where their church and family home stood, leaving Marya’s family, including her grandparents, with nowhere to go. Soldiers arrived with a bulldozer. The whole family stood outside, praying in the cold, with their belongings piled next to them as they watched their home and church being demolished. “Why hasn’t your God given you anywhere to live?” the soldiers mocked.
After this went on for some time, a soldier handed her grandfather a slip of paper stating the Communist Party would give them one small room where they could all live. Marya’s grandfather fell to his knees, loudly thanking God for His provision, enraging the soldier, who insisted the Party—not God—had given them the room. Young Marya remembers her grandfather, beaten and bleeding, wiping the blood from his face and continuing to praise God.
“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances.”
Today, you and I can choose gratitude and trust in God’s provision in our own challenges, no matter how big or small.
