Some insights on Gracia Burnham's In the Presence of My Enemies

I just finished reading In the Presence of My Enemies which tells Gracia Burnham's experience as a hostage in the hands of Abu Sayyaf terrorists.

Aside from getting me teary-eyed towards the end (when she recounts how Martin died and the story that follows after that), the book made me think about God's plan for all of us.

Most of the time--especially in the face of adversities, we just do not seem to understand God's purpose for giving us such hard trials. We usually resort to blaming ourselves for making decisions that lead us to the situation and, more often that not, we accuse Him of not loving us enough to give us the kind of life we've always wanted.

There was a part at the end of the book when Gracia asks why she only got half of her prayers answered when she have been praying really hard along with thousands of people all over the world. Weren't their prayers enough?

I guess God has plans for us that are beyond our will. Yes, it has never been easy to make ourselves servants of God. But if we let ourselves accept that "thy will be done," then it will be easier for us to accept and let God unravel His plan before our very eyes.

I admire the Burnhams for their unwavering faith and strength in the face of terror. It's just sad that for someone who had deep faith like Martin, he just had to die like that. If I were Gracia or anyone with a firsthand encounter of the Burnhams, I would've expected him to come out alive or at least, die dramatically. But Martin's death was so sudden and senseless that I find no justice for everything that he has put through in a year of captivity.

In the end, what matters most is Martin's faith and how this faith has kept Gracia and all the others strong. It is the faith that converted Guillermo before he faced his tragic death and it is also the same faith which may have changed the lives of many people all over the world.

I guess Martin's purpose in God's plan is to set an example of faith in the face of the hardest circumstances. And Gracia had to come out alive to tell the world about this man and his faith.

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P.S. I pity the those who suffer because of ignorance and injustice. The Abu Sayyaf are suffering spiritually because of their ignorance or at least, they're being misinformed as seen in Gracia's story. And I kind of feel bad for the soldiers for the injustices that many of them go through in the hands of their own generals. Again, as seen in Gracia' story.