Risking It All to Show Love

Zied had endured a long, difficult day and traffic in his crowded South Asian city was even worse than usual. A microbus in front of his car blared its horn while a tuk-tuk narrowly missed colliding with a motorcycle.

As he inched along, Zied tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, his thoughts already at his destination—Eli’s house. He had been studying the Bible with Eli, a Frontiers field worker, for several months. All week, Zied had looked forward to continuing their conversation on the concept of turning the other cheek.

Most people in Zied’s community were more likely to retaliate with double the force than to show kindness or understanding after an offense. But Jesus’ way—forgiving and doing good to those who caused you trouble—seemed so much better.

Suddenly the microbus directly in front of him swerved sharply, and before Zied had time to react, his car collided with a figure crossing the street. He slammed on his brakes and jumped out of the car to see what had happened. An elderly man lay in front of his car, scraped and groaning but not badly injured. For once, Zied was thankful for the slow speed of traffic in the city.

Jesus wouldn’t want him to demand money from the old man. He would want Zied to help him.

Zied froze for a moment, unsure what to do. Most people he knew didn’t stop when they hit someone. If they did, it was to try to get money to pay for damage to their vehicle. After all, such collisions were the pedestrian’s fault.

But Zied considered what he had been thinking of just before the incident. Jesus wouldn’t want him to demand money from the old man. He would want Zied to help him. Zied hurried toward the man, arm outstretched to help him up.

“Move along!” A tuk-tuk driver stepped out of his green and yellow vehicle, blocking Zied’s way. “You’re holding up traffic.”

“I’m just helping that man up,” Zied said as he tried to move around the aggressive driver.  

The man’s fist balled and swung toward Zied, who lifted an arm to protect himself and blocked the blow.

Anger contorted the driver’s face, and he lunged at Zied. Suddenly a dozen other tuk-tuk drivers jumped into the street to join the fray, angry that Zied had slowed traffic even more.

Gravel dug into Zied’s face as one of them knocked him to the ground, and he curled into a ball to weather their blows.

Zied hurried to help him up and led him to the sidewalk.

When the tuk-tuk drivers were satisfied that they had sufficiently made their point, they went back to their vehicles, cursing at Zied. He peeled himself off the street and felt his sore face, wincing at the pain radiating from his swollen skin.

As he stood, he noticed that the old man was still sprawled on the street. Zied hurried to help him up and led him to the sidewalk.

“You better get out of here,” the old man warned. “Otherwise, someone else will hurt you.” He hobbled off without offering a thank-you.

Zied sighed and returned to his car, ignoring a group of women who shook their heads and clicked their tongues at him. He couldn’t stop his hands from shaking as he drove to Eli’s house and knocked on the door.

Eli’s eyes went wide when he saw Zied’s bruised and bloody face. “What happened?”

Zied told the story as he entered the house and stiffly lowered himself into a chair.

“I want to be like Jesus. I want to turn the other cheek and help people, even if I don’t get anything good in return.”

“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” Eli said, going into the kitchen and returning with a first-aid kit.

“It wasn’t fun,” Zied responded, attempting a smile despite his cracked lip. Then his expression became serious. “But I know I made the right choice. I was hit by a motorcycle once and had to go to the hospital. The driver of the motorcycle didn’t try to help me at all. He just tried to get money from me.”

“That’s terrible.” Eli’s brows drew together.

“I don’t want to be like that,” Zied continued. “I want to be like Jesus. I want to turn the other cheek and help people, no matter what it costs me.”

Eli sat down across from Zied and popped open the first aid kit. “You set an example of Jesus to the old man. And to me.” He smiled. “Usually I think I am teaching you about Jesus, but today you are the one teaching me.”

Zied returned his smile, thankful for this friend who had shared the love of Jesus with him and thankful that Jesus was showing him how to love others.

Pray:

• Pray that as Zied continues to discover the joy of obeying Jesus, he will also realize the wonder of His grace and commit to following Him.
• Praise God for Zied’s willingness to apply Jesus’ words to his life, even at the risk of his own safety.
• Ask the Lord to continue to use Eli’s words and witness to draw Muslim men and women to Jesus.