January 13

Jan 13 - Today from Proverbs 13 we look at verse 7

"One man pretends to be rich, yet he has nothing: another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth." -NIV
"There is he that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing; there is he that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches." -KJV
"Some rich people are poor, and some poor people have great wealth." -TLB

I have shared three translations because I am not convinced that the NIV gives the best sense of the principle intended. I will share what I believe to be the principle involved; you may draw your own conclusions.
I have in my possession a very small book entitled The Orphans & the Raven. It never made the best seller’s list. I doubt whether it even went into a second printing. It is a story about an obscure family of which the father and husband was a Reformed Pastor in Communist Romania. To make matters worse, the family was ethnically Hungarian, whom the Romanian nationals despised. The father was arrested and imprisoned for his faith in Jesus Christ. The mother and eight children were exiled to a village in a dominant Romanian ethnic village. They were assigned to a one-room mud house, which had no roof. You can't get much poorer than this family was when they arrived at their 'new home'. The mother however was rich in faith and in grace. In spite of all her hardships and enduring the scorn of their neighbors, she ministered love and grace to the villagers at every opportunity. Gradually the villager's attitudes changed toward this 'widow' of persecution. Many began to minister to the needs of her and the eight children. Eventually she became esteemed in the village, and actually brought many to a saving knowledge of Christ. For six and one half years her husband endured extreme hardship and even torture in the Romanian prisons and was finally released. Reunited with his family, they moved back to the Hungarian area of Romania and he once again began to follow his pastoral calling. That is where the book, which the mother wrote, ended. The children grew up to be very strong believers and continued to strengthen the persecuted church of Communist Romania. Then, in December 1989 the Communist regime of Romania fell. There were riots in the city where the family now lived and served. The people were about to overtake the building of the offices of the Securatate and other Romanian officials and drag their former oppressors out and beat them - probably to death. The father of the family made his way through the mob and walked up the steps of the building and raised his hands. Many recognized this respected Pastor who had himself spent time in the filthy prison below the building. A silence fell. He admonished the crowd to show grace to the officials. If they carried out their plan, they would be no better than their former persecutors. He pleaded with them to return to their homes and thank God for this day and not to make it a bloody bitter memory. The crowd listened and slowly dispersed.
My copy of the book is autographed by the Pastor. His name is Ferenc Visky. One of his sons is the Regional Director for Dorcas Aid Eastern Europe - and a very good friend of mine. His name is Paul Visky. I have also met several of the other children during my time with Dorcas. When they speak of those years of exile, they all say the same thing; "Those were some of the richest years of our lives." Incredible! Though their parents 'made themselves poor' by being faithful to their Lord, they were some of the richest people in the world. The wealth of those years lives on today in the lives of their children and grandchildren. I too am richer for knowing this family.
I am very grateful for the abundance of material goods I enjoy each day. But I have met enough of the truly rich in this world, like the Viskys, to know that the material wealth I enjoy somehow makes me a little poorer in my relationship and dependence upon God. Don't get me wrong, I am not in despair about my blessings. It's just that I know that I have never quite experienced God's grace on the level that these folks have. It's a comfort to know that if a time ever comes when it will be needed, that my Father in heaven has abundant grace. Overcoming grace. Ferenc Visky and his wife Julia practiced faithful discipleship before the extreme grace was needed. The patterns practiced in safety became a vital lifestyle when persecution came. All of the money in the world couldn't have helped them. But they were rich in something beyond the feeble riches of this world. They knew their Savior intimately. He never left nor forsook them. What a friend we have in Jesus!