Serving His Word

Loving and Serving His Word - Daily Readings for Inspiration and Growth

Reading for September 19

Walter Ciszek

by Dave Quintana - Servants of the Word

And you know how sometimes you read a book that makes you think, "uh oh, I think I am in trouble—this book has my number!"? Well, "He Leadeth Me" was just such a book. It describes the story of Walter Ciszek , an American Jesuit who found himself in the horrendous Russian WWII prison Lubianka. Let me share with you a few of what I found (find) to be chilling quotes. He writes, "Sometimes we put ourselves into a certain situation to be able to serve the Lord and then for one reason or another are not nearly "as able to serve him" as we had envisioned." Sound close to the "danger zone"? As things proceeded to go not quite according to Ciszek's plan, and as life goes "off the rails", he writes (confesses), "This life is not what I thought it would be. This is not what I bargained for. It is not at all what I wanted, either. If I had known it would be like this, I would never have made this choice, I would never have made this promise. You must forgive me, god, but I want to go back. You cannot hold me to a promise made in ignorance; you cannot expect me to keep a covenant based on faith without any previous knowledge of the true facts of life. It is not fair. I never thought it would be like this. I simply cannot stand it and I will not stay. I will not serve." His brutal honesty provides a piercing lesson—at least for me.

And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, "Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." Lk 22:41-42 RSV

Daily Meds from the Q Source
by Dave Quintana, published byTabor House, 2012

Dave Quintana's daily meditations and Bible readings to stir our minds and kindle our hearts in 2013. He explores themes important to all who search to be wise men and women in the Lord, and provides a wealth of personal experience from living and ministering in Central America, Asia, Europe, and the United States. Expect to be challenged. Expect to be inspired. Expect to meet the living and loving God.

Dave Quintana is the Presiding Elder of the Servants of the Word, a missionary brotherhood of men living single for the Lord. He currently lives in Detroit, Michigan.

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