Recently I heard of a man from Jordan, a Christian who came to the United States, went through seminary, even got his doctor's degree in theology. He and his wife then went back to Jordan, to their homeland.

As a result of the Gulf War and the aftermath of that war, for the first time Jordanian after Jordanian after Jordanian is coming to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. And that mission field that had been so barren is becoming a tremendous harvest. so much so that a month ago, this man and his wife came back to the States to recruit more people and money to help them with the job.

While they were here, his wife went to the doctor and found that her throat was filled with cancer. Now he's in the States trying to see what they can do to keep his wife alive. Meanwhile. there is no one over there to work with Jordanians. He said. "God, that's stupid. That is dumb. That doesn't make sense."

You and I have often given our lives to Jesus Christ, and our time and our energy as well. We've given it to him. You said, "God, I want to do it." And then just when it seems as if everything should be coming together, instead it's exploding apart. Relationships for which we've sacrificed are breaking up. And jobs to which we've been giving our lives are going out the window.

Recently I heard of a Christian man who, about six months before retirement, was laid off, and the company finagled it so he lost all his benefits. He had prayed, "God, I want to be a good husband. I want to be a good father. I'm going to go to church. I'm going to spend my life serving you," and six months before retirement, whatever security he had was taken away.

Now he says, "God, that's not fair! I don't know if Christianity is worth it!"