Taking a Stand
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 (ESV)
When God places something on your heart, He also makes a way for it to happen.
Meet Irena Sendler, a Polish Catholic social worker, who at the age of 29, decided to take a stand. Between 1942 and 1943, she was involved in some risky business. She stood on her faith.
Intrigue, danger, and fear were cast aside. She focused on one thing and one thing only. With a passion for children and disguised as an infection-control nurse in the Warsaw ghetto, she and her co-workers began to smuggle infants out of the ghetto.
The ghetto was a small area where 400,000 Jews were forced to live with severe overcrowding, unhealthy quarters, rat infestation, and various deadly diseases. Her heart was broken as she made her rounds among the sick and dying. The smell of death and filth lingered. Irena encountered grief and despair. She knew that few babies would survive and went to work to alleviate some of the problems. Daily she prayed that God would show her which ones to rescue.
Convincing parents and grandparents to give their babies over to her care was easy due to her tender heart and promises for safety. And so, it began.
After months of carrying mildly sedated, concealed infants out of the hellhole in toolboxes and laundry bags, the infants were being moved along as she kept detailed records of each child. They were given new names and homes with families who graciously cared for them. Some were placed in Catholic orphanages and villages in Armenia and some were even transported to France.
The day came when her work was discovered; she was arrested and sentenced to death. On the way to her execution, they beat her unmercifully. They broke both of her legs and feet and dumped her along the road. While unconscious, they thought she was dead. After a long recovery time and sporting a noticeable limp, she returned to her passion and saved more babies.
By the end of her life, 2,500 Jewish children owed their lives to this woman. She leaned on God and took a stand.
I doubt that any of us are going to be this heroic, but I do know that when God gives us a passion, we must do something with it. Let it be known that we have taken a stand.
Father God, thank You for the faith of Irena Sendler. Thank You for her passion to save the Jewish children. Please give us the courage and strength to stand against all the wrongs in this world. AMEN.