Ecclesiastes 8:11-14 (Glowing Faces in the Dark)

 
I can't shake it.  I can't stop thinking about the lives of those three women, held captive in a dark, cold basement, chained to the wall for the majority of the day until their captor decided he would have his way with them.  Then beaten and bruised, they go back to the wall to wait until tomorrow, wondering how long until they would be rescued or if they would ever be rescued, wondering about the lives of the babies who were lost, wondering what they did to deserve this.

For. Over. Ten. Years. 

¹¹ When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. ¹² Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.  

The captor of these women thought he would get away with this crime forever.  He had not been caught for a decade, and for 3, 650 days, it appeared he was going to get away with his unimaginable behavior.  How is that so?  Here Solomon tells us that nothing has changed in the past 2,500 years since he wrote this: wicked people will commit horrible crimes, live long lives, and appear to get away with what they're doing.

¹³ Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

But even if someone gets away with their crimes for many years, Solomon says that "the good life" is reserved for the people who fear God.  Money crimes, sex crimes, drug crimes, abuse crimes -- it doesn't matter.  The lives of those who commit such acts are flat and colorless (like a shadow) compared to those who honor and serve God. 

 ¹⁴ There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.

And that's not the worst of it.  Solomon says there's something else horribly common on this earth and that is when good people get what the wicked people deserve and the wicked get the blessings of the good people.  This is tough to take, especially when it happens to you.

I've been following the story of an American pastor in Iran, Saeed Abedini, who was sentenced to an eight year prison term for sharing the news of Jesus Christ in Iran.  He is being held in a tight and brutal prison, enduring many beatings, solitary confinement, and the like.  His young wife and children are still living in Idaho.

He doesn't deserve this.  He's not hurting anyone, yet he is being treated among the worst criminals and even the other prisoners abuse him.

He was put in solitary confinement earlier this month for a week.  Solitary confinement is considered by some to be one of the cruelest forms of punishment, and has found to induce
"anxiety, headaches, chronic tiredness, trouble sleeping, impending nervous breakdown, perspiring hands, heart palpitations, loss of appetite, trembling hands and nightmares[...]suicidal thoughts, perceptual distortions, chronic depression, emotional flatness, violent fantasies, social withdrawal and ruminations were present [even after] a short time after admittance."

But when Saeed was released earlier this week, that was not the case.  According to his wife's facebook page: (italics mine)
"Saeed's family [the ones living overseas] got to visit him at Evin Prison today since he has now been released from solitary confinement. He said he felt many praying and the time in solitary was a time of intimacy with God. He said when he came out the other prisoners said he was glowing! He was filled with more joy and peace after solitary than going in!!! All of the prisoners were shocked at the change! This is because of your prayers!"

Even in hardship, God is with the righteous.  The reports of Saeed "glowing" reminded me of Moses' return from the top of Mt. Sinai after being with God there.  If the Lord meets us at the top of mountains, surely He also meets us in the darkness of our prison cells.

I know that our world is broken.  It's falling apart around us as it continues its search for meaning apart from Jesus Christ, and many things we see and experience don't make sense.  But even in the darkest hours, He is still there, walking beside us and holding our hand.

He will never leave you, no matter what comes.  And knowing that, makes even the dark places seem a little less cold.  I am so grateful that we never walk alone.

We must remember to seek Him, even when we don't understand the whys.  For even in the darkest of places, with Him our face can glow.