I finished this book in practically one sitting; not so much because it was an edge-of-your-seat story, but rather because it was a book club selection that's been sitting on my shelf for three months and has to be passed on to three other members.
The reason it sat for that long is because I haven't really haven't been making much time for reading lately and also because I had some sort of deluded mindset that it was going to be incredibly dull.
I can't conduct this review in the way I decided I usually would because it's a biography and you can't get into character-development when it's real people you're talking about. Or the plot either, come to think of it...
So, we shall proceed in a calm, orderly manner to see what can be made of this.
First of all, two things hit me as I proceeded through the first few chapters.
One: it was well-written
Two: it was very convicting
The basic premise of the book is trusting God for everything. It's a message I often forget because I'm very spoiled. Everything I need, I have, and practically everything I want I usually end up getting one way or another. The kind of trust that Silvia Tarniceriu (if I ever need to use her name again, I'm just going to say Silvia T. or Ms. T...) had is something I can almost not even relate to. I've never had to ask God for shoes or clothes or food or the basic necessities of life.
That's why it was so convicting.
When I realize how blessed I am by my Heavenly Father and how often I forget to thank Him I feel incredibly ungrateful and humbled.
Silvia's faith challenged me to rely more on my Savior and to pour out my thankfulness for ALL the blessings He has LAVISHLY poured out on me.
I was also challenged by her prayers. In the book she says she "kept her nightly 'talks' with God on an informal level".
I think, too often, we put God in a box and forget that He wants us to pray to Him like we would talk to our own earthly fathers. Like we talk to other people. He doesn't want to be put in that box of flowery phrases and formal words. He wants communion with us, in a setting that makes it comfortable for us to pour out our hearts to Him as we would to a friend. He wants our friendship, our confidences, our informal conversations.
And lastly, I was depressed and saddened by her description of the persecution she underwent for the sake of Christ. For me, persecution has always been a terrifying topic. As a child, I would cover my ears when the 'Voice of the Martyrs' ads would come on the radio, and I would block conversations about it from my mind and refuse to engage in them. To this day, I still run from the thought of it.
But Silvia T. underwent it all - survived it all - through God's grace. And that's what I seem to forget - or don't understand. That God is always with you and He knows exactly what is happening.
One other thing that she wrote especially hit me. When her friend asked her for help in distributing illegal Bibles to churches and people, Silvia T. hesitated and wondered if she should endanger her life by doing such a thing. And then she wrote "My life? What is my life? Do I have a right to call a life that was bought with the precious blood of Jesus my own life?"
It really hit me then. The thought that my life - which I selfishly do what I like with - is not my own. I was bought with a price. And I should use that life to serve the one who bought it.
'Till next time!
