Inspiring Story: Blessed are the Pure in Heart for They shall see God

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The following is a repost of an essay that I wrote on God's existence using the remarkable story of a Vietnamese Christian. I was reminded of it while considering my recent post, "Faith: The Stumbling Block." Enjoy!

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Today’s Inspiring Story is an essay I wrote recently about Between Two Tigers, a book published by the Voice of the Martyrs. I am aware that to a skeptic this might not be enough “proof” that there is a God. However, it goes along so well with what I was talking about...: that only when our hearts are pure will we see the Lord. Some people think they’re sincere when they say, “If God exists, prove it to me!” And then when you show them, they shoot down everything you say with their own arguments. This, to me, says that they have the wrong heart attitude. I also believe that the things that God does for us in our daily lives, proves God's existence. Hence, this is what inspired today’s story… Enjoy!

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In this world today, it is often said, “If God truly existed, He would reveal Himself to me.” They say, “God doesn’t exist! You can’t prove He does; I would have experienced some kind of miracle if He did!” It’s really a matter of what’s in the heart. The Bible says, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1), and Jesus made it perfectly clear that what is in the heart will come out. It therefore follows that if God’s Word is in one’s heart, he will be convinced that God exists, and that He works on his behalf. Brother “Vo” of Vietnam is a living example of this truth. He has seen God’s hand in his life, because God’s Word is in his heart. He “knows Whom he has believed,” and as a result, God came through for him and worked through him, proving to Vo as well as to others, that there truly is a God. Brother Vo didn’t always believe in God; there was a time in his life when he didn’t give God much thought. Did God exist? He wasn’t sure. That all began to change when he was very young. His dying father received healing after a pastor prayed for him. Vo witnessed this miracle and wondered, “Perhaps there is a God.” Later, when Vo was fourteen, he was dying. However, the hospital had decided that they didn’t want to treat him, so they sent him to his cousin’s house. At the same time, his cousin was trying to leave his house on his motorbike, but the bike would not move. Strangely, nothing was wrong with the bike when he checked it. His cousin said, “If I had gone… I would have missed you and you would have died.” Because his cousin had been there to receive him, Vo began to improve as a result of the care and pray which he recieved. Through this experience, Vo realized that there was an unseen Being watching over him, so he received Jesus into his life, and he sensed that the Lord was working in his heart. Years later, two events -- which were actually connected in a way -- occurred in Vo’s life, that demonstrated God’s existence. Vo was witnessing to the K’ho tribe when some of the Christians received a warning from God that the police were coming at seven o’clock and Vo would be arrested. They continued to pray until fifteen minutes of seven, when one of the Christians said, “The police are coming in fifteen minutes.” Vo was the only one with a watch, so he took this as a definite sign from the Lord. Feeling it was the right thing to do, he remained there. Then, just as the police approached, one of the Christians pushed Vo into the pig pen (which was a pit), where it was very dark, in an effort to hide him. While they were searching for Vo, the police looked in the pen, didn’t see anything, and left; even though the pit was dark, there was a lantern hanging directly above it, and yet the police did not see Vo! Why had he been spared from arrest this time? The answer lies in the second instance: There was another time when a Christian brother received a supernatural warning that the police were coming, and this time, Vo was actually arrested when they arrived. He was put in a very dark cell that was shared by another prisoner named Bac. Vo shared Christ with this man, who then began to cry. The next day, when Vo saw what Bac looked like, he was grateful that he couldn’t see the night before, or he might not have had the courage to talk to the man at all! Vo asked Bac why he had cried the night before, and he said, “Yesterday, at lunch time, I said to myself that if there is a Jesus… then send someone to speak to me about Jesus. This was just something I spoke out, accidentally. I didn’t think that a man like you would come into my room. The first thing you shared was about Jesus. So I know there is a Jesus.” (page 167) God had proved to Bac that He existed and He used Vo, whom He protected; if God did not exist, Vo would not have been protected, and thus would not have been able to help Bac. God also proved His existence to Vo by protecting him on another occasion so that he could share God’s Word with Communist Vietnam, his home country. While crossing the border into Cambodia, he was arrested; he was going to smuggle Bibles from there back into Vietnam. He had written down the addresses of contacts who could show him the way to the town for which he was looking. The police found his wallet, which contained the addresses, and when they read them, they said, “Oh, this is an address in Bangkok.” In reality, it was an address in Cambodia -- under which was written “Phnom Penh,” not Bangkok -- that they would have clearly known was not in Bangkok; yet they “misread” it. They still detained him, however, but they didn’t find the Bibles. So, by Divine intervention, the police released him, proving once again that if God did not exist, Vo would not have been protected and would have been caught. Another time, Vo entered a village and began to pray for the witch doctors’ deliverance. One by one, they were set free and received Jesus, yet the villagers still would not believe in Jesus. When Vo inquired, he learned that a magician resided in this village, and the villagers considered her to be much worse than the witch doctors -- they were afraid of her. “Only when she accepts Jesus will we make a decision,” they said. So Vo prayed for faith, strength, and courage, but God said, “You don’t have to ask, because I have given faith to you already. You just go and do it.” A spiritual battle then ensued between the demon in the magician and the Lord in Vo, which lasted for an hour. The villagers began to surround the house, because the magician was screaming. Finally, the demons in the magician surrendered, but Vo told them, “…You have to get out of this woman.” Instantly, the demons left, and Vo prayed for the Lord’s strength to restore her. She prayed and received Jesus. The villagers, who had witnessed the whole event, immediately surrounded Vo wanting to receive Jesus into their hearts, too. Vo ordered everyone to return to their homes, and one by one, he visited them and showed them the way to salvation. Vo said, “This is the most beautiful picture I have seen in my life. In each house, I saw the whole family, often more than 20 people, all kneeling down, waiting to pray and receive Jesus into their hearts. After receiving Jesus, they all gave their altars and charms to be burned…. Today the entire village, about 300 adults and children, believes in Jesus.” (pages 170 -171) The whole village came to know that God exists as a result of the witch doctors’ being set free and accepting the one, true God. Brother Vo is living proof that God exists. In an attempt to further their point that God does not exist, some would attribute stories like Vo’s to mere coincidence, but even coincidences have a cause, and it’s obvious that that cause is God. Let’s face it: if God did not exist, Vo wouldn’t be alive today; he would have died at fourteen and that would have been as far as the story progressed. But he didn’t die. Instead, God healed him, used him to bring many people to Christ, and also did many other supernatural things for Vo. Those who say that God does not exist, owe it to themselves to look into testimonies like Vo’s. What is the “secret” to knowing that God exists? If they would only have a sincere heart, God would reveal Himself to them. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith, it is impossible to please God; for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Of course, there are many other arguments for the proof of God’s existence, but the biggest proof is what he does for each of us on a daily basis, just as He did for Vo. To often, our hearts and minds are closed to this, so we think that God doesn’t exist, and if He does, He certainly doesn’t care. But the Bible says that the fool is the one who says in his heart that there is no God. We owe it to ourselves to take God at His Word, and He says, “I AM” -- “the One who was, is, and is to come” (Revelation 11:17). Brother Vo is an example of one to whom God revealed Himself, and He protected Vo and worked many miracles for him, because Vo’s heart was pure -- “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8) UPDATE: Here is a video that I found very inspiring that demonstrates what it's like when a whole village turns to the Lord, much like Vo witnessed in this story. I was simply awestruck...