Thought for another day

March 8, 2012

Today's verse: Ps. 119:114. Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word. (KJV)

(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

I read a book on Tony Anthony, a kung fu champion hailing from, through his mother, the line of illustrious kung fu grandmasters, who left their indelible mark on the shaolin temple and its ways.  As expected, Tony, though in England and born of an Italian father, was shunted to China to learn martial arts from his grandfather, a grandmaster in kung fu.  The harsh and unforgiving training his grandfather gave made Tony the kung fu champion of the world.  It also did another thing:  Make him lonely and solitary.  Over the years, he met a girl who taught him to love, but even before he could come to grips with it, she was snatched from him through an accident.  This made him so bitter that the values kung fu taught of fighting only to save lives, vanished.  Coerced for money by his mother, Tony used wrong ways to earn it until in Cyprus, where he lived, he encountered the law which incarcerated him in one of the most hideous and infamous jails in the world. 

His awesome anger and pride made a havoc of his life.  Being brought up to believe he could do anything, needing no one to help him, he couldn't figure how he came to be in jail though he did understand he should be there for the crimes he had committed, particularly bashing people and breaking up their limbs at the least provocation.  But the Master sought Tony out in the dungeon and won him to Himself.

From being a self-believer, Tony became a believer in Jesus Christ and in the book I read, he speaks of an experience so awesome where he was about to clash with a man he could easily beat, yet something held him back; rather than use his own strength, he took the Name of Jesus Christ and his opponent just fled.  Truly Jesus became for Tony, a hiding place and a shield, and he trusted Christ fully.  Today, Tony moves around the world testifying to God's love which changed him from his cold selfish self, to a man led by Christ to do His work.  Amazing is our God who is our refuge and our help.  There's nothing like putting our trust in Him and hoping in His Word.  Truly, He will deliver us no matter what our situation and He will keep us safe.