When God's Word Is All You Have
There are moments in life that forever change the way we see God and His Word. In today's guest post, my friend Josh Summers shares one of those moments. His powerful story reminds us that God's Word isn't just meant to sit on a shelf—it is meant to be hidden in our hearts, ready to strengthen us when we need it most. I pray Josh's testimony encourages you to treasure Scripture and trust that God's promises are always enough.
“Put your backpack on the table. Hand over your camera, your phone, and anything else in your pockets.”
A short pause and then, “NOW!”
A Chinese police officer barked orders at me with force. He stared at me without blinking while I complied.
He led me down the staircase to the dark basement of the police station. We passed by a holding cell occupied by a lone man who didn't even look up as we walked by. The cell was no larger than a walk-in closet with a concrete slab just long enough for one person to lie down. I saw a metal toilet but nothing else. No TV. No window. No books. Adjacent cells were empty. I was half expecting to be placed in one.
I'm certain that this slow march to my destination was intentionally designed to strike fear in anyone who came through. It was working. I was scared and worried about my unknown future. Was this what I had to look forward to?
We stopped in front of a large, heavy door while the police officer fumbled with his keys. Looking up, I realized we weren't alone. Cameras had been following our entrance into this depressing place, which was ironic. A camera is what got me into this mess in the first place.
With the door finally unlocked, the officer slowly opened it and motioned for me to sit in a metal chair. The room was a concrete box with nothing on the walls except a two-way mirror and another camera in the corner. A large metal desk filled most of the room. A chair was placed on each side.
The door slammed shut with authority. I heard the lock click.
I was alone.
Seconds turned into minutes which turned into hours. It's hard to describe what happened in my mind, even during the relatively short time of isolation so far, isolation I couldn't control.
I started by retracing what had led me here: a local religious festival in a politically sensitive part of China. This area had been my home for years, and it was a hobby of mine to capture cultural events with my camera. This time, however, the local police decided that I had crossed some invisible line, perhaps believing that I was working for some government or foreign news publication. They threw me into a van and drove me to this police station without even giving me time to call my wife.
Oh, my goodness! My wife! My boys! How would they know where I was? They wouldn't know I was missing until later that evening when I didn't come home. Would they be taken as well?
Panic started to rise from my stomach into my throat, and I desperately grasped for anything to calm me down.
“God, what's happening here?” I prayed.
I didn't have my Bible with me, and my electronic devices had been confiscated, so I was forced to draw from the well of whatever I had stored in my memory. I began to take inventory of what I could remember, not knowing how many more hours, days, or even weeks this isolation would continue.
Sadly, despite having grown up in a Christian household and attending Sunday school every week, I could barely come up with 50 Bible verses to calm my spirit.
My mind wandered to the man in the cell just outside the locked door, wondering if I would soon be joining him. What if these 50 verses were all I would have of my faith to sustain me during this time? That most certainly wouldn't be enough.
Why hadn't I been more intentional about internalizing God's Word?
This sobering moment in the basement of a Chinese police station was the exact moment I decided to make memorizing the Bible a priority.
Want more from Josh Summers? Check out this episode of the Significant Women Podcast.