Joy in the Inner Heart
A Testimony from China
I have been running an old folks’ home. I have distributed many Bibles to these old people and their children. I felt very happy and excited when I had the opportunity to share the word of God with them and their relatives. But in my deep heart, I have been troubled by some things.
Every month, the children of all the senior people are supposed to contribute to living expenses for their parents in the nursing home. What troubled me was that sometimes, the children did not do what they should. In the other words, they did not bring enough living expense to the nursing home for their parents. I was very upset and angry.
Long time ago, one of my friends gave me a Bible. One day when I felt depressed, I read the Bible: As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things…”
The aforementioned scriptures touched my heart. It is not enough for me to only give Bibles to others but it is also important for me to flesh out the word of God. I prayed to the Lord to help me to deal with my inner struggle.
God showed me that I had been distracted by the outside noises from those people who did not pay their dues. I have learned to show my concern and love to them who did not do their obligations and used my own money to fill in the gap.