UNCONQUERED
"Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept Thy word." (Psalm 119:67).
There is a poem by William Henley which
greatly inspired former President of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize
recipient, Nelson Mandela. The poem is
entitled Invictus, which is Latin for
unconquered. The author was diagnosed
with tuberculosis of the bone at age 12. At 25, he had his leg amputated below the knee
in order to save his life. Despite his
disability, he went on to complete his education at Oxford, and became a poet,
editor, and critic. A popular movie
dramatizes the story of Nelson Mandela and takes as its title the name of this
poem.
Nelson Mandela's story is very
inspiring. It illustrates a principle
that is basic to all who would seek excellence in Christ. The principle is that of affliction, and its
work in molding man's character. We find
that this principle was clearly at work in the lives of Abraham, Sarah, Jacob,
Joseph, Moses, Hannah, David, Daniel, Paul, and countless others. All of these men and women of the Bible endured
afflictions such as imprisonment, loss of family and home, rejection by peers,
loss of wealth, fear of death, judgments from God, years of hoping, but not
seeing, promises fulfilled, and many other things. There are many men and women in scripture who
were made better by their afflictions. Despite
their hardships, they clung to hope, and ultimately achieved greatness in God
because their soul was molded in the furnace of affliction. They certainly are not alone as examples of
affliction's work, however. Affliction
comes to the godly and the ungodly alike.
Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison,
mostly on Robben Island. He was put
there by the white minority of South Africa because of his efforts to win
equality for all men, black and white, in that country. Rather than letting those years of
imprisonment breed a bitter hatred for those who placed him there, he became
focused on the one goal that defined his whole life. During one of his trials, he defined his
ambition for South Africa when he said, "I
have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black
domination. I have cherished the ideal
of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony
and with equal opportunities. It is an
ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve.
But if need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to
die."
Four years after his release from
prison on February 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela became the first democratically
elected black State President of South Africa on May 10, 1994. Rather than ostracize and alienate the white
minority, as many of his black comrades wished to do, he worked tirelessly to
unite the nation under one cause. He
said, "I detest racialism, because I
regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white
man."
The poem, Invictus,
which inspired Nelson Mandela ends with the words,
It matters not how strait the gate,
How
charged with punishments the scroll,
I
am master of my fate:
I
am the captain of my soul.
For the Christian, it is Christ Who is
the Master of our fate, and the Captain of our soul. We can do all things through Christ Who
strengthens us. We will suffer
afflictions in our lives, but God will sustain us, and, ultimately, make sense
of it all for us. He is forging His
character in us, and He has also set the example for us. "For
it became Him, for Whom are all
things, and by Whom are all
things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their
salvation perfect through sufferings." (Hebrews 2:10).
So, Beloved, if you are undergoing
afflictions, and hard trials of your faith that you can't understand, know that
the Savior has suffered much more than any man for the great love that He had
for us. Know also, that, while you can't
see it now, God has a plan for every man and every woman, and the afflictions
that enter our lives will have a positive outcome in the end. "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy
statutes." (Psalms 119:71). Hold on to your faith, and trust the Shepherd
of your soul to perfect His will in you.
"But the God of all grace, Who
hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,
stablish, strengthen, settle you." (1Peter 5:10). Truly, in Christ we, too, can be unconquered!
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