Our hostel room in Vietnam had a balcony. Though it was small, I loved this balcony. The view was not a very beautiful or breathtaking one. In fact, we stared right at another building. There was an alley in between our hostel and the one across the street. This balcony was our “alone time” space. It was not for the view, but simply for the small space to sit in by oneself that made the balcony desirable.
And so there I was, journaling away, when I happened to notice something bright shining out from amongst the grey concrete walls. We had a few plants on our balcony. I had always thought that they were some kind of vine. But this morning, there was something different about these plants. They had produced some beautiful, bright yellow flowers.
As I continued to stare at the flowers, I realized how odd of a place it was for flowers to be blossoming. This was a very unlikely place to find flowers. Our balcony was so small and the sun hardly ever hit it. In fact, the plant had climbed up over the railing bars and reached over into the alleyway just to be able to reach the sun.
Despite the living conditions of the plant, it’s small confines and deprived life, it rose above the adversity and bloomed brilliantly. It chose life rather than death. It reached up and over the bars to take hold of any light that could possibly reach it. It declares “Here I am! I am beautiful! Look at me.” Surrounded by harsh bars and concrete walls, it radiates beauty. It stands out.
So it is the same with the believers in this city. They have overcome the hopelessness that is so common here and have chosen hope and life rather than death or despair. They reach out towards the Son and radiate His righteousness and beauty for all to see. Even though the world has stamped itself upon Ho Chi Minh city, beauty still blossoms in the most unexpected places. And it is so encouraging.
Vietnam is a closed country, so sharing the Gospel here can come with a price. The believers here are persecuted if their belief is discovered. I know that if I was in that situation, I would probably be a little more timid to share the Good News. However, the believers that I have met here are anything but. They are bold, fearless, and strong. They know what they believe and they take every single opportunity to share it with their people. One of our friends would take every opportunity to ride in our taxi with us so that they could share the Good News with our drivers. That just blows my mind. It also challenges me.
It challenges me to stand out. It challenges me to be more willing to share Jesus Christ with everyone and anyone I come into contact with. It challenges me to realize my own unique beauty within the Body of Christ and radiate it for everyone to see. So I have decided that I will reach over the bars of my own confinement, the bars that I have placed there myself in fear of offending anyone or of “being too much with the whole Jesus thing”. I will extend my hands towards the Son and radiate His glorious righteousness that is full of beauty.
