“A Christian woman who was kidnapped by the Islamic State in the Iraqi town of Qaraqosh in 2014 has said that she fears what Jesus Christ thinks of her after she pretended to be a Muslim to spare her life.” (From Christian Post (CP), Jul 20, 2018 -Stoyan Zaimov)

This is one of two stories that have crossed my social media path. The other tells me that more and more Muslims are coming to Christianity each day. For this latter one, I pray that it true.

The quote from the CP article I am referencing also prompts me to ask, “why are we still allowing these attacks to go unanswered?” That I may focus on the quote at hand however, I may save that question for another blog article.

Hearing stories such as this occasionally, I wonder what I would do if I ever found myself in a life or death situation. While I believe it to be a totally legitimate question to ask ourselves, I’m afraid (regardless of what we say) that we would never truly know unless we were to find ourselves in such a situation.

Myself, I have absolutely no tolerance for pain. I would not make a good secret agent or soldier. But I still wonder what I’d really do. No matter how much I tell myself that my faith in Christ, and God is above reproach; While it obviously has not been an issue for me or even most living here in the United States, I too wonder what Christ would think. I admit, I have prayed that I would never have to find out the answer to the question.

So, what would Christ think? While we simply can’t honestly answer this question, we can certainly draw some likely conclusions. Our Christian history is riddled with stories and incidents related to us by early church writings in which Christians have renounce their faith to save their lives.

There was much debate about the church, for example, welcoming members back into the fold after they renounced the faith, to save their lives or the lives of their families. Some wanted to reject them completely claiming they were not truly ever Christian. Others were inclined to forgiveness and understanding and welcomed them.

One thing I indeed could assure someone in these unthinkable circumstances is that Jesus, His Father, the Holy Spirit, know the heart. (Jeremiah 20:12, Mat 12:25, Acts 15:8) That said, I would suggest that one need not worry about this too much. Jesus knows what’s going on in this world; He knows you and He knows me.

Does God create evil? No, surely not! We are part of a world filled with sin and evil. Adam and Eve made the choice to disobey God. Our world suffers in sin for that choice made in the garden.

No, God does not create evil. Through our faith we learn and acknowledge that God will use whatever circumstances arise to do good; to create good out of it. He does this also in many ways we will never understand. We know God will choose people and situations to shape others. (1 Cor. 1:27-29)

Be careful. Remember indeed that Jesus and the Father know the heart. This is not a blanket of authority to scramble along through life either using or rejecting Christianity to suit your needs; at whatever time is convenient for you.

Jesus says in Mathew 10:33; “but whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” Jesus is the image of the invisible God, (Col 1:15). While Jesus was among us He showed us nothing but love. He commanded that we love one another. (John 15:12) The woman in this article did not reject Christ. She feigned the Muslim faith to save her life, praying without ceasing to Christ; to God to set her free.