When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. Matthew 10:19
There are four words Jesus spoke that you may not have thought much about.
“When you are arrested … .” That’s what Jesus said to his disciples as he sent them out to minister. For a man named Ahmed, the promise that comes after those words, is a very real one. Jesus said, “When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time” (Matthew 10:19).
Ahmed has been arrested and beaten for following Jesus more than 150 times.
For 17 years Ahmed studied to become a religious leader in his country but reading the Bible led him to follow Jesus. His new faith came with enormous cost. His oldest brother pursued him for an honor killing, believing Ahmed had shamed their family. When Ahmed’s sister tried to help him escape, the brother beat her to death with a golf club. His wife divorced him, and he lost access to their twin sons.
Despite this, Ahmed became a minister in the underground church. Eventually, he felt God urging him to confess Christ to his family. During the 800-kilometer journey home, he imagined his own death. When he arrived, he told his brother, “You can kill me now, but I will be free from fear.” But his brother fell to his knees, weeping and tenderly begging him to renounce Jesus. Ahmed refused. “That visit broke my fear,” Ahmed shares. He now has a peaceful relationship with that brother.
Today, every time Ahmed is arrested he shares the word of life that God gives him with his jailers. He even secretly disciples a group of them who have decided to follow Jesus.
You can help send the message that Ahmed was willing to die for, to millions around the world in their own languages. Give a gift today at guidelines.org.
