“And for your criminal activities, Mr. Wong, you will serve your fine country by performing twenty years of hard labor.”
The sentence was final. Soon Glorious Country Wong would join murderers, thieves, and other criminals at Tsinghai, Western China’s notorious hard labor camp.
What kind of a criminal was Mr. Wong? An anti-revolutionary American? A Kuomintang spy? A rumormonger of Western superstition? No, a Christian following his conscience.
A little stunned at the sentence, Mr. Wong heard the words of his late wife echo through his mind: “God will work everything out.”
His thoughts turned to his children. Now they were nearly orphans, and he prayed they would remain faithful in the coming trials. But he was not afraid. The faith and courage that filled his heart were not the result of chance. This was God’s miracle in Mr. Wong’s heart.
At one time Mr. Wong had been more than an ordinary Chinese. As a high-ranking police officer, he had enjoyed many advantages. But like many people with an abundance of money, domestic peace had eluded him. Following pre-communist Chinese custom, Glorious Country Wong had added an extra wife to his household. The marriage had increased the arguing between him and Lu, wife number one. His addiction to drinking and gambling increased his troubles; his losses often financed by his young actress wife, Soong, wife number two.
In 1938, Mr. Wong temporarily joined the resistance movement against the Japanese occupation as a sniper. Once, while taking cover in an abandoned pharmacy, he noticed a pair of Old and New Testaments lying under the counter. Reasoning that everyone else was looting, he took them.
Soon after, a friend signed Mr. Wong up for a Bible correspondence course as a practical joke. Reckoning the gods wouldn’t mind him reading the Bible, as long as he weeded out the falsehood, Glorious Country Wong began the study. But the more he read, the more he learned of a new Friend, a Savior, who had given up the glories of heaven to die for sinful humanity—and for him. His friend Jesus would also help him live a better life, keeping the Ten Regulations, including the blessing of the seventh-day Sabbath. Soon Jesus would come again and the saved would live in peace forever. Mr. Wong wanted that peace and acceptance from God. He vowed that he would do anything, even suffer persecution or give his life, to follow truth and righteousness. How his prayer would come true!
The things he learned in the Bible drastically improved his home life. Instead of arguing with Lu, he learned to treat her kindly and with respect. Gambling soon lost a grip on him as he learned to put his trust in Jesus. But as he finished his Bible correspondence course, Pastor Charlie Chu, his grader, told him that if he wanted to be baptized, he could be married to only one woman.
The Ten Commandments spoke to Mr. Wong: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” The conflict churned within him as he wrestled with his emotions. His friend Jesus would help him solve this problem. Trying to reason with himself brought little relief. “Maybe Soong can become my sister,” he thought. But she would not stand for that. Finally, with deep regret, Mr. Wong announced his divorce. Packing up her belongings, he gave Soong and their child the family treasures, sending them to his summer home in Suzhou, where they could be provided for and live beyond reproach.
When Lu heard what he had done, she was astounded. She also became interested in Christianity and, before her death from tuberculosis, gave her heart to Jesus.
Now that he was a Christian, Glorious Country wanted his Sabbaths free, so he quit his job as a police officer. His boss laughed at his newly found faith. “How will you support your family?” Mr. Wong simply stated, “My friend Jesus will provide all our needs. He who clothed the lotus blossom will clothe my family.” Later on, the same man helped him get a job at a garment factory.
Wherever he went, Mr. Wong would talk about his new Friend. Though frowned upon because Chairman Mao had passed new laws against “superstition,” he saw the fruits of his labor. One night he saved a lady from committing suicide when he asked, “Do you know my friend Jesus?” Her hope restored, she also became a Christian.
At the garment factory, the boss asked why Mr. Wong wanted his Sabbaths off. He answered, “I want to spend time with Jesus and my family.” Persecution tightened around him. Cut wages, house raids, accusations, and a call to the police station gradually led to two trials and his sentence. Yet in prosperity and in adversity, Mr. Wong’s faith remained unshakeable.
With the hot ring of the gun on his head, Mr. Wong prayed aloud, “Jesus, take me if it’s Your will!”
At the labor camp, proselytizing was forbidden and resulted in beatings, confessions, or being left in the freezing cold tied to a pole. On one occasion, Mr. Wong provoked the fury of the guards when he gave a prisoner the first commandment to memorize on a piece of toilet paper. The next day, along with 14 other prisoners who had broken the rules, he was sentenced to be shot.
Mr. Wong smiled, remaining confident that Jesus would help. Bang, bang, bang. Fourteen shots resounded. Now the hot ring of the gun was on his head. Mr. Wong prayed aloud, “Jesus, take me if it’s Your will! Forgive this man, for he doesn’t know about You. Let my death lift You up before human beings.”
Over and over the guard demanded that Mr. Wong give credit to the communist party as his savior, not God. But nothing could move this determined Christian. Finally, the guard calmed down and untied Glorious Country’s hands, adding, “Don’t thank your God. Thank your kind government for giving you a second chance.” Mr. Wong lived and could again speak about Jesus.
From the 1,500 prisoners who came with him, and the 3,500 who came while he was in prison, only 18 remained. Of these, only five were released for a one-month holiday. Strangely, Mr. Wong was the only one of the five who received traveling papers enabling him to see his family. After arriving in Shanghai, he was eventually reinstated to residence and once again became an ordinary citizen.
These true incidents from the life of Glorious Country Wong were taken from the book, The Man Who Couldn’t Be Killed, by Stanley Maxwell. They transported me to a time when Jesus said that God’s people would stand trial before kings, governors, and rulers. Their faith would be severely tested when separated from family, forsaken by friends, accused by the magistrates, mocked, humiliated, beaten, and even killed. “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Tim. 3:12.
Bible prophecy predicts a time when the whole world will be forced to a decision whether to worship God or to follow the popular consensus of the masses. See Rev. 13:15–16. How will we stand for God and follow truth then? By making decisions to follow our friend Jesus and His Word today.
“And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten…. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered.” Joel 2:25, 32.
What a vivid word picture God gives us. In my mind’s eye, I look back over the years the enemy has taken and see his victims scattered over the fields of my time. Friends of mine were taken by drugs, suicide, and violence. They were prodigals, casualties of the great battle for souls.
I came close to being added to that list of fatalities. Like many young people growing up in the ’60s and ’70s, I succumbed to peer pressure and experimented with drugs at an early age. Within a few years, I was addicted. I used many different kinds of drugs, but “angel dust” and “downers” were what I used the most.
I believe the music I listened to at that time had a lot to do with my involvement with drugs, but the biggest factor was poor self-image. In the tremendous search to feel good about ourselves, some young people of my generation became involved in causes. Others sought satisfaction in having the best things money could buy. Many, too overwhelmed to fight, simply crawled into a bottle or a needle and wished the world would go away.
I didn’t handle my problems—I ran from them. One time I accidentally took an overdose of angel dust. I went to work that evening, sat down, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in the hospital hooked up to all kinds of needles, tubes, and machines. The nurse said they’d almost lost me, but even that didn’t bring me to my senses. My mother, her prayer group, and probably others were praying for me all through those years. So, if you are praying for someone in a similar situation, don’t give up!
Over a span of five years I spent a total of three or four months in psychiatric hospitals trying to get well. The drugs I was given had horrible side effects, the most frightening of which were cruel, demonic thoughts that plagued me. Because of my violent behavior, I was sometimes strapped to my bed for hours or days at a time.
Drugs had dulled my senses, but I wasn’t even aware of it. When I first started to use them, colors seemed brighter, and sounds seemed clearer and sharper. Everything seemed new and exhilarating! (How Satan uses the avenues of our senses!) Yet getting off drugs has been like receiving a new set of senses. Like the root of a water lily struggling up through the muck and mire, my new life has burst through to bloom in the fresh air and light above.
How I wish I had come to know my Savior sooner, before the energy of my youth was wasted. He has created within each of us a desire to know Him, not just casually but in the closest intimacy of Creator and creature. He created us in His image (Gen. 1:27), but sin has distorted that image in us. The good news is that God longs to bring us back to His original design. Eph. 3:19; 4:13. Along with that desire to know Him, God has given each of us a measure of faith (Rom. 12:3), just enough to believe that this could all be true.
Like a water lily, my new life has burst through the muck of my troubled
past to bloom in the sunlight of God's love.
I would like to tell you of the God whom I have come to know and love through prayer and His written Word, His voice in nature, and His powerful, tender Spirit working in my life. He is a God who loves beauty, order, and design. Look at the harmonious movements of nature, and see how He loves unity. Look at the flowers and animals and see how He values individuality.
He created us to share His glory. And what is His glory? His glory is His character: goodness, mercy, graciousness, longsuffering, goodness, and truth. Exod. 33:18–19; 34:5–7. He wants us to be like Him, to have His nature. “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Pet. 1:3. He wants us to be filled with His Spirit (Eph. 3:19); to share in His purity and holiness. Heb. 12:10. His laws are laws of love; the closer we follow them, the happier and healthier we become in mind and body.
How is all this possible? When we try to keep these laws in our own strength, we find we fail miserably. Only Jesus, our Creator, can create a new heart (mind) in us, which He has promised to do. When the human race fell into sin (see Gen. 3), He loved us so much that He chose to become one of us, to take on our human nature and overcome sin in the flesh. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” Rom. 8:3.
He took our sins upon Him, not so we could keep on sinning, but so we could be free from any sin that is binding us. When we see His great love for us and what sin cost Him, we will want to be free of every sin. This is the God of love I know. Only He is able to give peace, contentment, and lasting joy. And He longs to give them to you.
The Christian life is not easy. When we fail to concentrate on the power of God’s Word, doubts and discouragements come in. When I am tempted to feel discouraged, I realize the depths from which He has brought me, and I say, “Father, if in Your omniscience You did not see me in eternity, You could have allowed my life to be snuffed out.”
But one does not need a history of drug abuse or any immoral past. Everyone has the same need of Jesus. All who say they are truly happy without Him are fooling themselves. The fact that you are alive and reading this means that God longs to have you in His eternal kingdom.
Jesus said that He was going to prepare a place for us and that He would come again, “that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:3. Did you know that you have the power to bring joy or sadness to the heart of God by accepting or rejecting His offer? Please don’t harden your heart. Accept Him today as your personal Savior. Pray earnestly. Study the Bible diligently. Ask Him continually to fill you with His Spirit that you may have victory over every sinful temptation. He wants to make your joy full, and you can make His dream come true: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.” Rev. 3:21.
The Bible contains many stories of traumatic experiences—death, disease, famine, dysfunctional relationships, war, capture, and betrayal.
What is trauma? Psychological trauma is an emotional response caused by severely distressing events.1 It’s easy to assume that children of God will never experience traumatic events. Yet the Bible records instances of trauma in every book. But the trauma is not the end of the story for God’s people; there is also redemption. These stories are recorded not only as history but also to strengthen our trust in God as our Redeemer.
Trauma can involve exposure to death, serious injury, sexual violence, or even the threat of these—whether direct, witnessed, learned through loved ones, or retold in painful detail. It may result in brokenness—a state of strong emotional pain that stops someone from living a normal or healthy life.2
Common emotional struggles after trauma include fear, anxiety, isolation, helplessness, and hopelessness. Trauma may also distort beliefs about safety, trust, intimacy, control, and self-worth. Yet there is therapy for trauma: safety, calm, connection, strength, and hope. Scripture presents stories of people who faced such struggles and encountered God’s healing restoration. Here are three of them.
Elijah was God’s prophet to Israel at a time when the nation had fallen into Baal worship. Elijah was sent by God to inform King Ahab that no rain would fall in the coming years because of Israel’s rebellion. During the next years of drought, God hid Elijah while the king angrily searched for him. Meanwhile, Queen Jezebel took revenge by killing many of God’s prophets. Unbeknown to the king and queen, the king’s own servant, Obadiah, hid and sustained 100 of God’s prophets for years. But no one found Elijah.
Trauma is real, and its impact can be deep.
But in God’s hands, our most painful stories can become testimonies of hope.
Three and a half years later, God instructed Elijah to show himself to Ahab. Elijah told Ahab to gather “all Israel” and the 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Elijah addressed the assembly: “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21. The people were silent.
Elijah proposed a showdown between the worshipers of Baal and Jehovah: the god who answered by fire would be declared LORD.
The prophets of Baal were allowed to go first. They erected an altar and placed a sacrificial bullock on it; yet their day-long prayers to Baal failed to ignite their sacrifice.
But when Elijah prayed before Jehovah’s altar, God immediately sent a fireball from heaven to consume his sacrifice. The people fell on their faces, crying, “The Lord, He is God!” That evening, Elijah executed all the prophets of Baal, and God sent torrential rain on repentant Israel.
Jezebel was so furious that she vowed to kill Elijah. This shook Elijah badly, and he fled, wishing he could die. Faint and exhausted after his stressful experiences, he stopped to sleep in the desert. Twice, God sent an angel to kindly wake him with food and water. When he eventually reached Mount Sinai, God listened as he poured out all his discouragement, including his lament that he alone stood for God.
Then God reassured him and renewed his courage for further service. He told Elijah to anoint Elisha as an apprentice, later to succeed him as a prophet. Now Elijah had a devoted associate.
Elijah’s life reflects vulnerability to feelings of brokenness, a frequent result of trauma. He lost much of his community when Jezebel massacred the prophets, he received death threats, he became a fugitive, and he lived in hiding. He also confronted false prophets and witnessed their deaths. The breaking point came when Jezebel’s threat overwhelmed him with fear and anxiety.
God’s response was tender, not harsh and denunciatory. He sent an angel with a soft touch and gentle voice, providing calm. Then God questioned Elijah twice, challenging his distorted beliefs. Elijah voiced his struggles: “They seek to take my life” (fear), “They killed Your prophets” (anxiety), “I alone am left” (isolation), “Israel has forsaken Your covenant” (helplessness), and “They have torn down Your altars” (hopelessness).
God confronted these beliefs with truth: Elijah was not alone, 7,000 others had not bowed to Baal, and God still had a purpose for him. Beyond words, God gave him a companion—Elisha. Elijah discovered that divine and human connection restored what fear had tried to break. Even in collapse, God listened, cared for his body and soul, and reconnected him with his calling.
Joseph’s mother, the favorite wife of his father, Jacob, died while giving birth to Joseph’s only full brother—Benjamin. Joseph was Jacob’s favorite of his 12 sons. This made his 10 older brothers very jealous. Two further things worsened his brothers’ jealousy: Joseph received and relayed prophetic dreams that his family would one day bow down to him, and Jacob gifted him a multicolored coat of distinction above his brothers.
When the brothers had a chance to act on their hatred, they sold Joseph to Egyptian traders. Then they deceived their father into thinking Joseph was dead by ripping his coat and dipping it in blood. Revenge was not as sweet as they thought. Their father could never be comforted concerning Joseph, and their guilt weighed on them for years.
On the way to Egypt, Joseph vowed to stay faithful to God. Once there, he was sold as a slave to Potiphar, a court official. He excelled as a servant but angered Potiphar’s wife by refusing her sexual advances. In revenge, she accused him of rape, and he was thrown into prison. Even there, he trusted God and served faithfully. He didn’t realize that accurately interpreting the dream of Pharaoh’s cupbearer would result in his release years later.
The cupbearer forgot Joseph until Pharaoh had a dream no one could interpret. Joseph was called from prison and interpreted the dream. A drought was coming, but Joseph’s wise ideas meant Egypt could survive the famine. He was therefore chosen to be Pharaoh’s reliable second-in-command.
During the seven-year famine, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt. They didn’t recognize Joseph bowing to him and asking to buy food. Joseph tested them to see if they had changed and eventually revealed his true identity. He forgave and welcomed them, their families, and his father to live in Egypt and survive the famine.
Joseph endured layers of trauma. Betrayed by his brothers, stripped of his coat and identity, thrown into a pit, and sold into slavery, he suffered violence, abandonment, and separation. He was sexually harassed, falsely accused, and imprisoned.
Yet Joseph did not collapse. His faith in God preserved him from distorted beliefs. Still, he carried vulnerabilities: the loss of his mother’s affection, rejection from his brothers, unbalanced love from his father, and deep emotional hunger. His family history left him legacies of rivalry, deception, and fear—patterns that could have destroyed him.
But Joseph overcame. Tempted by Potiphar’s wife, he resisted, affirming his identity in God. Tempted to lie, he chose truth. Though Joseph was separated from family, God turned loss into reunion and preservation of life. Joseph declared to his brothers: “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” Gen. 50:20.
His story shows that emotional emptiness need not end in lifelong trauma. God’s fullness can transform pain into strength. Even when Satan tempts us to self-destruction, God redeems stories of brokenness into testimonies of His faithfulness.
We first hear of Paul, then named Saul, as a junior member of the illustrious Sanhedrin—the Jewish council. He guarded the outer garments of his fellow councilors, watching approvingly while they stoned Stephen, a highly respected deacon in the early Christian church. Stephen had fearlessly preached that Jesus was God’s Messiah and had even performed miracles—all considered acts of blasphemy to Saul.
For Paul, suffering and grace coexisted.
Though outwardly wasting away, inwardly he was renewed day by day.
As a fanatic defender of Jewish tradition, Saul became an active persecutor of the Christians, even journeying to different cities to arrest them and bring them to trial in Jerusalem. One day, as he approached Damascus to find Christ’s followers, he was overwhelmed by a brilliant, blinding light. He saw Jesus Himself, who asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Saul replied, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” Acts 9:4–6.
So begins an entire transformation in Saul. After this personal encounter with Jesus, he becomes Paul, a daring and faithful apostle to the Gentiles—the people who are not Israelites. His passion is now making converts for his Lord and Savior at any personal cost—scourging, stoning, shipwreck, imprisonment, betrayal, hunger, cold, and ingratitude.
Paul faced these hardships bravely, but he didn’t dwell on them. In his own words, “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:13–14. He and his coworkers answered the call to spread Christianity far into the then-known world.
Paul’s life was marked by violence, danger, physical deprivation, and disappointment. He also bore deep concern for the churches. Humanly, such relentless suffering could produce despair and trauma. Paul testified, “Who is weak, and I am not weak?” 2 Cor. 11:29.
What sustained him? Seeing his suffering through the lens of God’s purpose. In 2 Corinthians 6:4–7, he acknowledges hardships—tribulations, imprisonments, labors—yet also affirms the graces that accompanied them: purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Spirit, sincere love, the power of God, and the armor of righteousness. For Paul, suffering and grace coexisted, shaping him as a minister of God.
His letters highlight this paradox: though outwardly wasting away, inwardly he was renewed day by day. 2 Cor. 4:16–18. Tribulation produced perseverance, character, and hope through the Spirit. Rom. 5:3–5. Even his weaknesses became a stage for God’s strength. Paul’s scars became marks of Christ’s life in him, his pain a testimony of grace.
Paul shows us that being struck down does not mean being destroyed. Trauma does not have the final word when life is lived with eternal purpose. Instead, human fragility becomes a vessel for God’s glory.
Trauma is real, and its impact can be deep. Fear, anxiety, isolation, and despair are natural human responses. Yet Elijah, Joseph, and Paul remind us that trauma is not the end of the story. Elijah discovered connection, Joseph found fullness, and Paul embraced purpose.
The God who touched Elijah, sustained Joseph, and strengthened Paul is the same today. He draws near with care, listens without judgment, and renews with grace. Trauma may wound us, but in Christ, brokenness can be redeemed into belonging, emptiness into fullness, and suffering into purpose. In His hands, our most painful stories can become testimonies of hope.
Wars raged between tribes; Fulani slave raiders descended from the north; Portuguese dealers waited along the coast. Amid this violent convergence stood a 12-year-old boy—Ajayi—whose life was about to change forever.
In 1821, Ajayi and his entire village were captured by Fulani raiders. Alongside his family, he was forced into bondage and exchanged through a chain of brutal, profit-driven hands before being sold to Portuguese slave traders. The conflict and illegal commerce had reduced a royal descendant, the grandson of King Abiodun,1 to human cargo.
He was born Yoruba, sold into slavery at age 12,
rose to become the first African Anglican bishop,
and pioneered Bible translation into Nigerian languages.
Ajayi himself recounted the ordeal in a now famous letter he wrote in 1837 to Rev. Williams Jowett, then the secretary of the Anglican Church Missionary Society:
“I suppose sometime about the commencement of the year 1821, I was in my native country, enjoying the comforts of father and mother, and the affectionate love of brothers and sisters. From this period I must date the unhappy [er] blessed day, which I shall never forget in my life.… While they [Fulani tribe] were endeavouring to disentangle themselves from the ropy shrubs, they were overtaken and caught by the enemies with a noose of rope thrown over the neck of every individual, to be led in the manner of goats tied together under the drove of one man. In many cases, a family was violently divided between three or four enemies, who each led his away, to see one another no more.”2
So began the tumultuous yet remarkable journey of a boy from Osogun in Yorubaland—present-day western Nigeria—who would rise from captivity to become the first African to be consecrated as an Anglican bishop.
Ajayi’s grim journey across the Atlantic never reached its dreadful destination. As the Portuguese slave ship sailed toward the Americas, it was intercepted by a British naval vessel enforcing the recently passed antislavery laws.3
The Royal Navy had begun patrolling the West African coast, capturing illegal slave ships and liberating those aboard. The rescued captives were taken to Freetown, Sierra Leone—a settlement established for freed slaves.
There, young Ajayi found himself in an entirely new world. Though the trauma lingered, this unexpected deliverance marked a decisive turn in his life.
In Sierra Leone, Ajayi encountered Christian missionaries from the Church Missionary Society and received formal education for the first time. In gratitude for his freedom, he embraced the Christian faith and was baptized in 1825, taking the name “Samuel Crowther” after a prominent CMS official. Later he wrote, “About the third year of my liberation from the slavery of man, I was convinced of another worse state of slavery, namely, that of sin and Satan.”4
In 1829, he married a fellow Sierra Leonean rescued from a slave ship, Asano (Susan) Thompson, who became a lifelong partner in his ministry. Ajayi’s remarkable gift for languages and sharp intellect quickly set him apart. While many other freed African slaves turned their attention to trade, he devoted himself to education, becoming the first student of the newly established Fourah Bay College in Freetown—the first Western-style university in West Africa.
His academic and missionary promise soon caught the attention of British mission leaders, who, following his leading participation in the 1841 Niger expedition, selected him for further study in England. There he trained for the ministry. In 1843, he was ordained as a deacon, and a year later as a priest.
Upon his return to Sierra Leone, Crowther resumed his missionary work and made a vital contribution to academics at Fourah Bay Institute. There he taught Greek and Latin—an exceptional achievement—and brought mastery of English and African languages to his classroom. His example undoubtedly inspired others, bridging educational traditions and laying groundwork for an indigenous African clergy.
In his journal entry dated September 30, 1851, Crowther wrote: “For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.” Isa. 62:1.5
As part of the Church Missionary Society’s Niger expeditions, Crowther ventured deep into the interior, where he was once shipwrecked and stranded for months upriver after the wreck. During that period of enforced isolation, he devoted himself to studying the Nupe language and began exploring mission outreach to the Nupe and Hausa peoples, laying the groundwork for the Niger Mission.
In one of these expeditions, he was reunited with his mother and sister, who embraced the Christian faith and were baptized. Ajayi preached in Yoruba, Igbo, Nupe, and Hausa, often switching between languages to meet people where they were. He also helped develop written forms of the Igbo and Hausa languages.
In 1864, history turned a corner. The Church Missionary Society consecrated Samuel Ajayi Crowther as the first African Anglican bishop. However, long before donning his episcopal robes, he had begun a quieter but perhaps more lasting revolution—Bible translation.
At the time, Yoruba was primarily oral—rich in poetry, proverbs, and song, but lacking a fixed written form. To give the Word of God to the Yoruba people, the language first needed standardization and structure. Crowther took on the task amidst many setbacks and difficulties, including the devastating loss of a painstakingly compiled collection of Yoruba terminologies during one of his missionary journeys.
Undeterred, he began the work anew, drawing from his deep cultural memory and relentless commitment until a functional written standard emerged. His conviction was clear: “The Sword of the Spirit [the Bible], placed in the hands of the congregations, in their own tongue, will do more…than all our preaching, teaching and meetings of so many years put together.”6
His determined linguistic efforts opened the way for Yoruba to be used not only in religious instruction but also in formal education, literature, and administration. Despite his elevation as the first African Anglican bishop, Crowther remained profoundly humble. He saw his position not as a personal accolade, but as a call to serve both God and his people.
Crowther’s translations were not just religious texts but tools of literacy, empowering thousands to read and write in their mother tongue. His mission stations along the Niger became centers of both Christian witness and African autonomy, although they scarcely survived colonial structures and internal church politics at the time.
Still, Crowther remained faithful. He endured marginalization, political interference, and betrayal—all with grace and resolve. He continued to preach, teach, and translate until his death in 1891.
Today, millions still read the Scriptures in the Nigerian languages he helped shape, and churches across Nigeria stand as living testaments to the seeds he planted along the Niger.
“If you run away again, you impudent child, I will tie you to the goddess Kali tonight!” screamed the devadasi, her eyes gleaming with anger. Trembling with fear, the little girl slipped into a dark corner of the dirty temple and tried to hide from the woman assigned to train the little temple prostitutes.
The thought of spending a night tied to the fearful-looking Kali paralyzed the child with terror. I will leave this place, never to come back! she determined.
It was a dismal, cloudy afternoon. The seven-year-old stole across the dank room, slipped through the door of the temple, and then tiptoed away until she reached a pathway leading to the jungle, where she broke into a frantic run. Later that night, a kind lady found her standing in front of a church.
The next morning, the child was escorted into a room where a woman sat at a table, bent over a book, her fair face framed by dark hair. Looking up, she smiled at the child and asked, “What is your name?”
“My name is Preena,” the girl answered, scrutinizing the lady whose skin was as white as the milk she had poured on the numerous temple idols.
Then the little girl cocked her head inquisitively, “And what’s yours?”
“I am Amy Carmichael.”
As a child, Amy prayed for blonde hair and blue eyes.
Years later she realized that her dark hair and brown eyes were useful for God's work in India.
Amy Carmichael was born December 16, 1867, in Ireland. As a child she longed for blue eyes and blonde hair like most people she knew. One night she prayed and fell asleep, confident that God would reward her for her fervent faith in Him. The next morning, as she eagerly looked into the mirror, she was disappointed to see her same features. Years later, she would realize that God had a purpose behind her physical appearance.
Amy arrived on a mission assignment to India in November 1895, when the country was under British rule and mutiny was rampant. There were also numerous social evils, including the popular temple system where women called devadasis served. Some women were dedicated to temples at birth, and as young as five they were trained to sing and dance. Prostitution was rampant. Rescuing children from the evils of this system became Amy’s lifelong passion.
In 1901 she founded and established The Dohnavur Fellowship in South India. This was a refuge for temple girls, a place where they learned about the true God. Known as “the child stealer,” Amy put herself totally into the work of rescuing, sheltering, feeding, clothing, and most of all, teaching these dear ones the life of Christ.
Some of these children who came to her home were infants who demanded much time and attention. A single woman with a strong love for Christ, her motto was, “Not my will, but Thine, Lord.” Her purpose was to train these children for God’s service, untainted by worldly desires. Many times epidemics like cholera and typhoid struck Dohnavur. Yet, inside the home, Amy and her children were untouched. Many of these children chose to be baptized, and a majority of people in Dohnavur were converted to Christianity.
Some experiences Amy had were divine appointments. In 1921 there was a search for a famous criminal named Raj, the leader of a gang of bandits. Despite his notorious reputation, some believed he was a kind man.
One day, as Amy was out checking fields she intended to buy, she saw three armed men approach her from a distance. Leading the way was a tanned, stocky man whose dark eyes flashed with stubborn determination. Shaking her hand, he introduced himself as Raj, the well-known outlaw she had heard so much about. Quite surprised and a bit stunned at such an unexpected meeting, Amy politely invited him and his comrades to join her for supper. They did not realize that God had a special plan in bringing them together. “There are unseen doors that lead out of the familiar landscape of life into another entirely unknown. Such a door opened then. And we walked straight through and did not know it,” she said later.
Raj had been falsely accused and blackmailed. His wife had died, so he asked Amy to take care of his children. When he visited the Dohnavur home, she gave him Bible studies, and to her amazement, he requested baptism. Amy knew that the power of God was working on his heart.
But Raj still refused to turn himself in and kept escaping from the authorities. As their last resort the police asked Amy to persuade him to turn himself in. One night a meeting was arranged. Grateful for the brown eyes she had once pleaded with God to exchange for blue ones, she stained her face and hands to disguise herself and set out to meet him. When she did, he still refused to give in.
Two months later, Raj was trapped by the police. As they pursued him, he leaped onto a river bank. Swinging his gun above his head, he threw it away, shouting and pointing to his heart, “You whose duty it is to shoot, shoot here.” They did.
On numerous occasions, Raj had shot back at the police in self-defense. But this time he surrendered. The love of Christ had finally transformed his heart, and Amy believed that he died a Christian. She was thankful that he had found rest in Christ. She knew nothing was impossible for the Lord.
On January 18, 1951, Amy Carmichael was laid to rest at the age of 83. She was buried in Dohnavur, where she had served for 53 years. A remarkably strong woman, her love for the Lord enabled her to sacrifice her life for His work.
There were times when Amy’s motto, “Not my will, but thine, Lord,” seemed like a heavy cross to bear. Along with the wonderful experiences came fiery trials. But she considered herself a loyal soldier who would follow the orders of her Captain, no matter the cost. Her numerous poems reflect this single-minded devotion.
A life in Christ is a life of restfulness. There may be no ecstasy of feeling, but there should be an abiding, peaceful trust. Your hope is not in yourself; it is in Christ. Your weakness is united to His strength, your ignorance to His wisdom, your frailty to His enduring might. So you are not to look to yourself, not to let the mind dwell upon self, but look to Christ. Let the mind dwell upon His love, upon the beauty, the perfection, of His character. Christ in His self-denial, Christ in His humiliation, Christ in His purity and holiness, Christ in His matchless love—this is the subject for the soul’s contemplation.
It is by loving Him, copying Him, depending wholly upon Him, that you are to be transformed into Christ’s likeness. Jesus says, “Abide in Me.” These words convey the idea of rest, stability, confidence. Again He invites, “Come unto Me, ... and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28. The words of the psalmist express the same thought: “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” And Isaiah gives the assurance, “In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.” Ps. 37:7; Isa. 30:15.
Yet the rest in Christ is not found in inactivity; for in the Savior’s invitation the promise of rest is united with the call to labor: “Take My yoke upon you: ... and ye shall find rest.” Matt. 11:29. The heart that rests most fully upon Christ will be most earnest and active in labor for Him.
When the mind dwells upon self, it is turned away from Christ, the source of strength and life. Hence it is Satan’s constant effort to keep the attention diverted from the Savior and thus prevent the union and communion of the soul with Christ. The pleasures of the world, life’s cares and perplexities and sorrows, the faults of others, or your own faults and imperfections—to any or all of these he will seek to divert the mind. Do not be misled by his devices. Many who are really conscientious, and who desire to live for God, he too often leads to dwell upon their own faults and weaknesses, and thus by separating them from Christ he hopes to gain the victory.
We should not make self the center and indulge anxiety and fear as to whether we shall be saved. All this turns the soul away from the Source of our strength. Commit the keeping of your soul to God, and trust in Him. Talk and think of Jesus. Let self be lost in Him. Put away all doubt; dismiss your fears. Say with the apostle Paul, “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:20. Rest in God. He is able to keep that which you have committed to Him. If you will leave yourself in His hands, He will bring you off more than conqueror through Him that has loved you.
Based on Paul’s letter to Philemon
Night falls quietly over the household of Philemon as, one by one, sleep claims its occupants—family members, servants, guests, and animals.
But not all are sleeping. From a dark corner, a restless figure slips between the marble columns of the central courtyard. Crossing its curtained threshold, he steals into a private chamber without stumbling or hesitation. Every corner, every piece of furniture, even the shadows, are familiar to him, for he is at home.
With silent, calculated steps, he approaches the wooden chests lining the wall. Opening one, his fingers find a small pouch. As he touches the cold metal inside, he shivers, for he knows what he is doing is wrong. Yet without hesitation he hides the pouch beneath his tunic and closes the chest. Then, wrapping his head in his cloak, he silently recrosses the room, passes through the courtyard, and slips through a narrow door into the empty street. Instantly he disappears into the darkened city of Colossae.
“Onesimus, did you hear me?” A gray-haired man in chains gently shakes the slender young man whose head rests against the stone wall.
Like a flash of lightning, the question startles him back to reality. “Brother Paul…y-you ask me to return to Philemon?” he stammers, his pupils widening like a frightened cat.
Onesimus falls silent for a moment and swallows hard, his voice breaking—“I don’t know if I have the courage to return and risk everything! I’ve been free for so little time!”
Onesimus lowers his head and buries his face in his shaking hands as his tears flow. Returning would be madness. Everyone knew the fate of runaway slaves in the Roman Empire: cruel punishments, torture, painful branding, and often, death—for slaves had no rights. He has just begun to taste libertas—yet his freedom is not an honest one. It has not been won by purchase or inheritance, but by stealing, fleeing, and hiding.
“I will pay what you owe your master. And he, as a captive and debtor of Christ,
will forgive you and show kindness.”
But the God who never loses track of His own has followed him to the vast and endless crowds of Rome. Through the wide community of Christians here, he has reunited with Paul, the aged apostle in prison and a dear friend of his master, Philemon. Onesimus has offered his strength and service to Paul. And in serving Paul, he’s come to know another Master, far greater than any earthly lord. Jesus has stepped into his story and seized his heart.
Onesimus still calls himself a slave, yes—but now a slave of Christ. And in that servitude, he’s discovered a new freedom—freedom from sin, and the peace and joy of belonging to a Lord whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. All Onesimus wants now is to serve Christ and follow His way.
Yet each time he hears the name Philemon, his throat tightens and his legs quiver. His body is free, but his conscience isn’t. He’s taken someone else’s property, and he must return it.
“You must return to Philemon,” Paul’s voice is firm yet tender. “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free, but freedom without a clear conscience only becomes another kind of slavery.”
“I want to be truly free,” Onesimus whispers through tears. “I want to have all my sins forgiven and every wrong I’ve ever done, redeemed.”
“Onesimus, I could keep you here with me—you have been a great help in my chains.” Paul reaches across a wooden table faintly lit by a candle and takes a small scroll of papyrus. “But the time has come to exchange even your temporal freedom for the forgiveness and peace Christ offers.”
“What about my debt?” Onesimus sighs deeply and dries his tears. “Even if I return and ask his forgiveness, I could never repay what I have stolen.”
Paul smiles, laying a tender hand upon the young man’s shoulder. “Go in peace, my son. I will pay what you owe your master. And he, as a captive and debtor of Christ, will forgive you and show kindness. For only by love and forgiveness can Philemon show the world that in Christ there is neither master nor slave, neither man nor woman; we are all one in Him—children, though debtors and undeserving, bound to the mercy and forgiveness of our Lord.”
Finishing the letter, Paul ties it with a linen string, presses a drop of melted wax over the knot, and holds it out to Onesimus. “Hand this letter to Philemon at your arrival—my words will speak for you, if yours should falter.”
Days later, accompanied by Paul’s faithful servant, Tychicus, Onesimus watches Rome fade into the distance aboard a ship that sails toward Ephesus, a coastal city near Colossae.
When the ship arrives, questions spread quickly among the Ephesian Christians who gather each Sabbath to study the Word of God. Onesimus, the runaway slave? How will Brother Philemon react to seeing the slave who wronged him standing at his door?
After sharing with the church how Jesus has transformed his life and how he’s served Paul in prison, Onesimus risks the final step. He sets out for Colossae, to Philemon’s house. In his hand he holds Paul’s letter—his guarantee. This time, his head is not hidden beneath a cloak.
“He’s back!” Startled eyes follow Onesimus through the streets. At last he reaches Philemon’s house, and taking a deep breath, he knocks firmly on the wooden door.
The door swings open, and a servant girl drops her jaw. She darts inside and returns with Philemon. “Onesimus?” Philemon’s eyes widen. Shaking his head in disbelief, he approaches the threshold.
Kneeling, Onesimus bows his head and offers the papyrus scroll. In an instant, Apphia, Philemon’s wife, and his son, Archippus, appear behind him, mouths agape.
Philemon takes the scroll, breaks the seal, and quickly unrolls it. “It’s a letter from our beloved Brother Paul!” Philemon’s voice vibrates with excitement. “Stand up, Onesimus. Tell us good news about our beloved apostle!”
“Read the letter!” exclaims Sister Apphia, lifting her hand to command the servants to guide Onesimus and Tychicus inside.
With a broken voice full of emotion, Philemon begins to read aloud: “Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer….” Philemon 1, NKJV.
With tear-filled eyes, Onesimus finally hears the words Paul has written on his behalf. Paul takes responsibility to make amends for all Onesimus has stolen and tenderly calls him a son. Insisting that he is useful for the gospel, Paul affirms that he should no longer be received as a slave, but as a brother.
“Peace and grace be with you, Brother Onesimus!” Philemon exclaims as he finishes reading the letter aloud, reaching to embrace him. “This world no longer defines us; our old customs, our divisions, none of that matters. In Christ, we are all equal, all part of one family. We forgive because we are all debtors—and He forgave us first.”
Hearing these words, Onesimus accepts a fraternal embrace from Philemon, one that the onlookers know will mark the beginning of a new story—not just for Onesimus and Philemon, but for all who allow the love of Christ to overcome every barrier and unify those who accept Him as Savior.
I once had a patient who was blind. He was a remarkable man. I was his doctor, helping him learn how to live in such a way as to reverse his diabetes and obesity. I had advice for his health, but he had inspiration for my soul. You see, he was blind before I took care of him, but he wasn’t blind when I took care of him. And I wanted to know why.
He grew up in a Christian home. He learned the stories of the Bible. He fell in love with Jesus. He decided to attend a Bible college, and he eventually spent a portion of his life as a part-time pastor. He married and had children, and life became busy. He was never taught how to care for his body, so he naturally ate and lived like his parents ate and lived. Eventually, he gained weight and developed diabetes.
With his diabetes, his vision began to get worse and worse. At first, it was difficult for him to see the smaller words on labels. Then he had trouble reading the words in his Bible and had to use a magnifying glass. Later, he could only see the outlines of things around him. And eventually, he lost the ability to see any light at all. He was blind—completely blind.
What was he going to do now that he was blind? What would his life amount to? He was dependent upon his wife, and his children were grown and out of the home. Not having a clear direction in life, he simply sat for hours a day in front of the TV, listening and listening.
But one day, something happened. He had a thought. He remembered how much peace he had with the Lord before. He saw how discontented he was now. And he realized that the peace he had previously experienced was associated with reading and believing the promises of the Bible. The thought he had was, I want to be able to read my Bible again.
But how does a blind man read his Bible when he cannot see? He turned off the TV, asked for his Bible, opened its pages, and held it before him, looking in the direction of the Bible. He asked God to give him his vision so he could read the Bible again. And he willed to read. Every day, he would take out his Bible, put it before him, and ask God for the ability to see so he could read his Bible. He willed to see.
In a couple weeks, he noticed that he could see a little light. In a few more weeks, he could see the outline of things around him. In a few more weeks, he could see the pages of his Bible. In a few more weeks, he could read words in his Bible with a large magnifying glass. And eventually he could read without any help. His sight was completely restored!
And here he was, my patient, learning how to take care of his body for health. And there I was, his doctor, learning lessons of faith for eternity. I discovered he had far more to offer me than I had to offer him.
I have not thought of this man for years, but he came to mind this morning as I was walking and talking with the Lord. I began to think about how his story applies to our lives. Where are we blind? What can we not see? Have we just been sitting around, listening to the constant barrage of the enemy and our own negative thoughts? Have we settled into the thought that how our life is now is how it will always be? What could be possible if only we asked God for sight and willed to see?
The power of creation is in the word of God. “God said…and it was so.” Gen. 1:6–7. The power of re-creation is in the word of God as well. “Only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.” Matt. 8:8, NKJV. But that power is not available to us while we are not reading it, not desiring it, and not believing it. If we sit before our TVs, computer screens, or devices, consuming the trash, trouble, and trivia of the world, it is guaranteed that we will remain powerless.
The problem is not what we watch. The problem is the sinful nature of our heart. What we watch is only an external manifestation of our internal problem. But what we need in order to resolve our internal problem is the creative and re-creative power of the Word of God. We need the promises given to us by God that we might be empowered to adopt and live the life of Christ. We need the creative and re-creative power of the Word of God to open our spiritual eyes, so we can truly see. And when our spiritual eyes are opened, everything will change. We will find joy, meaning, and purpose in life. And we will be encouraged and empowered to help others see as well.
If we sit before our TVs, computer screens, or devices, consuming the trash,
trouble, and trivia of the world, it is guaranteed that we will remain powerless and blind.
Will you commit to opening your Bible every day? Will you commit to asking God every day to help you see the meaning in the passages you read? Will you commit to keeping at it, day by day, even if it doesn’t make sense to you yet? Will you commit to trusting that God will give you vision, little by little, as he did for my patient years ago? Will you commit to keeping at it until you can see? I believe the same miracle performed for my patient’s physical vision is available to you for your spiritual vision. It is God’s will that you see, and His power always supports His will.
If you would like a resource to help you on this journey of unlocking the power of God’s Word and experiencing its transforming work in your life, I recommend Bible Promises for Freedom: A Resource for Overcoming Negative Thoughts. This book is written for the purpose of helping you understand the power you have available to you in God’s Word and how you can access that power for your own life. In finding freedom yourself, you can then be a channel of God’s transforming grace in the lives of others. And you will find your purpose and joy in taking from God’s Word and giving to others.
God bless you abundantly as you cooperate with the power of His Word to give you sight!
To order the book for you and your family, visit the author’s online store:
https://npmin.org/shop/.
The Kindle version can be found here:
https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Promises-Freedom-Resource-Overcoming-ebook/dp/B0DGZRJCDF/.
In the summer of 1843, in Sweden, a little girl, only five years of age, who had never learned to read or sing, sang a long Lutheran hymn correctly in a most solemn manner. And then with great power she proclaimed, “The hour of His judgment is come.” She then instructed her family to get ready to meet the Lord; for He was soon coming. The unconverted in the family called upon God for mercy and found pardon.
This movement spread from town to town, with other children proclaiming the message. The same movement among children was manifest to some extent in Norway and Germany.
In 1896, while holding meetings in 17 different parts of Sweden, I passed through several places where the children had preached in 1843 and had opportunity to converse with those who had heard the preaching as well as with men who had preached when they were children. I asked one of them, “You preached the advent message when you were a boy?” He replied, “Preached! Yes, I had to preach. I had no devising in the matter. A power came upon me, and I uttered what I was compelled by that power to utter.”
In Orebro County this work spread until the civil authorities, instigated by the priests of the “established church,” arrested two young boys, Erik Walbom, 18, and Ole Boquist, 15, to make a public example of them. They whipped their bare backs with birch rods, and placed them, with their bleeding wounds, in Orebro prison. When these wounds healed, they took them out of the prison and demanded they cease preaching this doctrine and beat them with rods the second time, opening their wounds afresh. Still they answered, “We will preach the preaching that the Lord bids us.”
Through the intercession of a prominent lady parishioner in Orebro, King Oscar I told the authorities to let those boys out of the prison, and to let the people alone. So the victory for the truth was gained in Sweden.
“In the year 1843 a religious movement occurred among the people in Karlskoga Parish, in Orebro Laen. The leaders in this movement were children and young men, who were called ‘rapare.’ These preached with divine power, and proclaimed before the people, with great decision, that the hour of God’s judgment had come.
The people came in large numbers to hear these children and a great revival took place.
“In the fall of the same year, I, O. Boquist, then fifteen years of age, with another young man, Erik Walbom, 18 years of age, became so influenced by this unseen power that we could in nowise resist it. As soon as we were seized by this heavenly power, we began to speak to the people, and to proclaim with a loud voice that the judgement hour had come, referring them to Joel 2:28–32 and Revelation 14:6–7.
“The people congregated in large numbers to listen to us, and our meetings continued both day and night, and a great religious awakening was the result. Young and old were touched by the Spirit of God and cried to the Lord for mercy, confessing their sins before God and man.
“But when the priest in the church was apprised of this, many efforts were put forth to silence us, and thus to stop the prevailing religious excitement; but all efforts were unavailing. The sheriff was then requested to cause our arrest, and during six weeks a fruitless search was made to find us in the forest, whither we had fled for refuge.
“Finally, however, we were summoned to appear before the pastor of the church. Our number had increased so that forty young men and women presented themselves at the parsonage, where we were submitted to a long trial. All but myself and Walbom were permitted to return to their homes; but we were arrested, and on the following day were placed in custody in the Orebro prison, where we were associated with thieves, … as though we had committed some great crime.”1
On September 22, 1896, the sister of Boquist, 72 years of age, attended our meeting at Orebro, and told us about the experience of her brother; for she witnessed his whipping, imprisonment, and liberation. She sang for us the hymn that Boquist and Walbom sang as they walked out of the prison onto the bridge over the moat surrounding that 16th-century castle, used as their prison in 1843. The power of the 1843 movement accompanied the testimony and the singing of the hymn.
“A little boy eight years of age, who had never learned to read his letters, began to preach the advent message, quoting many Scriptures. The people said, ‘That boy is just filled with Bible.’ This circumstance occurred after King Oscar I had spoken in favor of the persecuted ones, so the priest of that place could not get the boy before the court to stop the work; but he told the people to bring the boy before him, and he would expose him, and show them his ignorance of the Bible.
“Before a crowd of people the priest opened his hymn book and asked the boy to read for him. The boy replied, ‘I cannot read’; but turning his back to the priest, he sang the hymn through correctly from first to last, the priest meanwhile looking on the book in astonishment. The priest said to the lad, ‘You seem to know everything.’ The boy replied, ‘No. We are not always permitted to tell all we do know.’
“The priest then opened the New Testament and said to the boy, ‘Read for me in this.’ The boy replied, ‘I cannot read.’ The priest inquired, ‘What do you know about the Bible anyway?’ His reply was, ‘I know where there is a text that has the word and in it 14 times.’ The priest said, ‘No! there is no such text in the Bible.’ The lad said, ‘Will you please read for me Rev. 18:13?’ ‘Yes,’ said the priest. As he read the people counted, and sure enough, the word and was there just 14 times….
“The people shouted, ‘The boy knows more about the Bible than the priest!’ Much chagrined, the priest dropped the subject and left the people unmolested after that.”2
So, out of the mouth of children the Lord confirmed His Word, and brought His truth to the ears of the people whose laws forbade the preaching of any doctrine but that of the “established religion.”
The children who were thus influenced by this heavenly power were lost to everything around them. They were actually in vision from God, and spoke with a power that carried a mighty convicting influence. While under that influence, they would speak with the force and dignity of full-grown men and women. So those who saw it were led to conclude that it was the Lord using them prophetically to utter these solemn truths as promised in Joel 2:28–32: “I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My spirit…before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.”
If one-third of your assets lie in the prosperity of a certain company, you would probably monitor the progress of that company often. Time is a commodity too. We spend one-third of our lives sleeping. How does sleep of short duration contribute to the epidemic of obesity, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes? Has it contributed to your weight gain? Does good sleep help with weight loss if one is obese?
Fredrick had always taken pride in his good looks, intelligence, and health. An avid exerciser and former health coach, he was kind and likable, often traveling the world. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he became isolated while working from home. He stayed up late chatting with friends. Over the next two years, he gained noticeable abdominal fat, often referred to as a potbelly. His sleep deteriorated. Five years later, as Fredrick experienced chest pain and saw his doctor, he was surprised to learn that his left main artery had a 90 percent blockage. He was only 43! He had prediabetes even though he was active, had a nearly normal weight, and ate not always the optimal, but a strictly vegetarian diet.
One-third of Americans do not get adequate sleep.1 If you want to lose weight, you need to get seven to eight hours of good-quality sleep! Two meta-analyses found that inadequate amounts of sleep, interrupted sleep, and irregular sleep can make us more vulnerable to obesity, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes.2, 3 The shorter the duration of sleep, the higher the risk of developing obesity or type 2 diabetes. Why?
Even in a healthy young man, sleep restriction leads to increased activation of brain regions sensitive to food stimuli.4 In other words, reduced sleep may lead to a greater propensity to overeat. In normal-weight individuals, partial sleep deprivation increases the brain’s response to unhealthy food. MRI studies demonstrate that sleep deficiency significantly decreases activity in the areas of the frontal cortex and the insular cortex that help us control appetite.5, 6 Sleep deficiency also increases activity in other parts of the brain and makes us crave junk food and high-calorie foods.7 Additionally, inadequate sleep enhances activity of dopamine receptors linked to hyperpalatable food consumption.8
Another study found that obese women had lower sleep efficiency, ate more quickly, and spent more time eating and sleeping during the daytime hours than normal-weight women.9 Circadian misalignment affects sleep architecture and may reduce total sleep time. Misaligned circadian rhythms contribute to obesity, diabetes, and comorbidities of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Get at least 30 minutes of physical exercise per day, even if it is in several smaller segments of time. Studies show that daily aerobic exercise helps to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.
Get sunlight exposure during the early part of the day, or use a broad-spectrum happy light if it is overcast or dark. Use blackout curtains for complete darkness at night. No blue light exposure two hours before retiring.
Skip supper if you need to lose weight.
Skipping supper increases the production of growth hormone
which enhances the body’s ability to burn fat.
Gradually reduce caffeine consumption to the point of eliminating it. Caffeine reduces the quality of slow-wave sleep (the most restorative sleep), increases the time it takes to get to sleep, enhances the impact of stressors, and magnifies the effects of stress hormones. A morning dose can interfere with nighttime sleep. It also magnifies the effects of the sympathetic nervous system, making it more difficult to relax.
Cultivate regularity in rising and retiring. Studies show that fatigue occurs four hours sooner on an irregular schedule than on a regular schedule. According to Dr. James Maas, research shows that if you take two groups of students and have them both get an equal number of hours of sleep, but group one goes to bed on what we call a “yoyo schedule”—they can go to bed at 11 pm one night and 3 am the next—and group two goes to sleep at the same time every night, group two will be significantly more alert than group one.
Keep the room at a comfortable temperature and well-ventilated with fresh air. The room should be totally dark for optimal production of melatonin, a sleep-promoting, antioxidant, immune-bolstering, and cardiovascular-protecting hormone.
Eat a light third meal consisting mainly of fruit, or better yet, skip supper if you are overweight or sedentary. Skipping supper increases the production of growth hormone during deep sleep. This valuable hormone assists in tissue repair, improves the efficiency of the immune system, and increases the body’s ability to burn fat. Sugar and refined carbs compromise sleep.
Before retiring, soak in a lukewarm tub of water; then go to bed immediately. Keeping your feet warm at night improves sleep. Both the herbs hops and passionflower, in the form of tea, induce sleep. If you are taking medications, check with your pharmacist before taking any herbs in medicinal amounts to avoid a possible drug-herb interaction. Avoid melatonin supplements for a prolonged time, as they can interfere with the natural production of melatonin.
See your physician if these simple remedies do not help you have restorative sleep. A test for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may be needed. Seven in 10 people with type 2 diabetes also have obstructive sleep apnea. Significant sleep apnea is present in approximately 40 percent of obese individuals.10 Approximately 70 percent of individuals with OSA are obese. Moderate and severe sleep apnea reduces the body’s ability to regulate blood glucose levels efficiently.11 There are effective treatments for sleep apnea.
Adapted with permission from Wildwood Lifestyle Center, Georgia. For the full article, see https://wildwoodhealth.com/if-you-want-to-lose-weight-sleep/.