daily statistics informed me about her visit.She used google.com.pk to type in the words that caught my attention: desperate christian wife alone. She visited one of my sites, Desperate Christian Housewives, on March 26 2007, 5:38:25 a.m. The length of her visit was 3 minutes 56 seconds. She viewed three pages on my blog. She lives in Pakistan in the Punjab State, or region, in the City of Lahore.
Is her husband or family Muslim? Did she find what she was looking for to help her in her desperation? I felt for her and was sad my blog didn't offer her more than it did. Or perhaps it did help her a bit, especially since she remained on my site for almost four minutes. She even clicked on one of the pictures and that was her last contact with my blog. If she, or someone like her, returns in the future, I want to offer more than what that particular blog offers at present. I said a prayer for this unknown woman in Pakistan. How important it is to ask the Holy Spirit to guide you whenever you post something that is of a spiritual or semi-spiritual nature in the blogosphere. It may be someone's only chance to find the help they're seeking. Cyber encounters like this are indeed unusual and frustrating. But also rewarding, in a way.
One seldom hears about Christians in Muslim countries and the challenges they face. If one does read about them they are distant and don't impact directly on one's life. This nameless Pakistani Christian woman crossed my path in an indirect way and now she's real enough to me that I think about her and pray that God will help her in her desperate and lonely Christian life in Pakistan. I wonder how she came to believe in Christ in a country that is predominantly Muslim? Even more important is how she is able to continue struggling with Christianity to the point of desperation and loneliness. Perhaps my struggles don't compare with hers. It makes me think that one may sometimes have to struggle in one's Christian walk even to the point of desperation and loneliness.
We take freedom of religion for granted so often. We think we have problems when, in fact, we don't. Our problems pale in comparison to women like the one in question, who find themselves wanting to follow Christ in a country, and perhaps a home, that is Muslim. Even if she has an understanding husband or family, who love her in spite of her interest in Christ, there is still an empty part of her life, that makes her feel alone and desperate. Perhaps her business associates or her neighbors contribute to her desperation and her aloneness. What would I tell her if she had asked me point blank for help in overcoming her problems? The only thing I could have done is point her to the source of her faith. I know that it's easier to say to others than it is to practice oneself. But when things had pretty much reached rock bottom at one point in my life where I also felt desperate and alone, I prayed that God would lead me to a bible text that would help me. Even though I didn't fully understand the text he led me to, it helped me in ways I can't explain even today.
But he [Christ] said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Cor. 12:19 (NIV)
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