In the face of Death

Rachel lived with her Parents and little brother Andrew. Her father was a leader in the Christian church they so carefully held each and every Sunday. One of his favorite sayings was, “We believe in our God seriously, not temporarily or depending on the situation.” Other believers would quietly and cautiously come into their inner room and they would worship and pray to the one true God. The Romans were zealous in their pursuit of Christians to torture, kill, and abuse for their faith. Although wary of the roman soldiers, the small group of Christians trusted God and tried to share their faith with anyone when possible. Rachel loved the Lord with everything she had and every day that went by her relationship with Jesus grew stronger.
Not quite sixteen and a woman, she didn’t hold much importance in the everyday life, but in her church, she was admired as a young woman wise beyond her years. Nearly every day Rachel’s family saw brothers and sisters in Christ cruelly murdered for the Gospel. But these events only caused the Faithful to become bolder.
One morning Rachel and her brother Andrew were sent by their mother to buy a piece of linen for Rachel’s birthday gown. They kissed their mother goodbye and with a wave they took off running down the dirt road. After a long search they found the perfect linen, purchased it, and joyously took it home to their mother. Andrew flung open the door and called out to his mother, but her reply did not come. Thinking she must be in the back room making the bed he made he way back there. As he stepped in the doorway he called out again. Suddenly rough hands grabbed, blindfolded and struck him. Rachel, still in the kitchen, heard the commotion and ran to see what was the matter. She froze, horrified, staring into the face of eight roman soldiers that had captured her brother. One of them seized her and dragged them both out of the house. As Rachel and Andrew struggled and tried to cry out, one of the soldiers raised his hand over Andrew’s head and knocked him unconscious. Rachel broke free and ran to his side, but before Rachel could reach him, she felt a blow to her own head and a sudden blackness enveloped her.
Misty voices floated in and out off the darkness, coming and going like ocean waves. Gradually Rachel’s mind started to clear away the confusion, but the blackness did not go away as she began to be aware of her surroundings. She felt cold, hard concrete underneath her and groping blindly in the darkness, she stumbled into a wall of rusty iron bars. Horrified, she realized she had been captured and imprisoned. Then a new, more terrible thought; where was Andrew? “Andrew!” She called out franticly. After a few minutes of beating the bars with her bare fists and crying out, she calmed down enough to remember a prayer her mother had taught them. Quietly she repeated, “Dear Father, Holy is your name. If you are with me, I will praise you, if you lead me into danger, I praise you, in everything I bless you Lord. I know you love me and will always be with me. I will follow where you lead and not question your judgment. Amen.” A wave of peace swept over her and she knew that God was with her. She sat there, cold, hungry, and lonely, not knowing what would happen to her or where she was. Curled up in a corner, Rachel had nothing, nothing but her God. Meanwhile, Andrew was in a similar situation, alone and scared.
Andrew woke to blinding light coming from the open door of the prison, and the silhouettes of two soldiers came in. Opening the creaking door, they once again, bound his hands and led him away into the unknown. He stumbled and fell as the soldiers hurried him through the streets, never stopping to let him get back up. Down the road he saw what no imprisoned Christian wanted to see, the coliseum.
The grounds of the coliseum were stained with the blood of countless Christians, a literal death trap. Roughly they dragged him through a back entrance and threw him into a special holding cell, much like his former prison. Andrew wanted his mother or Rachel more than anything now, but all he could do was wish and pray.
Later on in the day the guards opened the rusty iron-barred door and shoved another person into his cell. He looked into the persons face and saw Rachel staring back at him. “Rachel!” he cried as he leapt on her and embraced her. Rachel was equally overjoyed. “Praise God that we are together again”, she said. But their joy was short-lasted. A roman soldier swaggered up and sneeringly said, “Tomorrow morning you and your brother will die, just like your parents did.”
They sat there, shocked by the fate of their parents. Rachel whispered a prayer and then said to her little brother, “No matter what happens in the morning, we will stand firm for God.” Andrew agreed despite his terrible fear. The blood-red sun rose high in the east as Rachel and Andrew said one last prayer together, awaiting death, knowing they would see God soon.
The bloodthirsty crowds roared in the stands as Rachel and Andrew bravely stood in the middle of the dusty arena. They had been sentenced to death by lions. Along the walls there stood wooden cages, each containing a hungry lion. Scared terribly, but bold and willing to die for their faith, Rachel and Andrew stood and faced the crowd. The guards asked them “any last words?” Rachel stood and proclaimed to the audience, “ We believe in God. You cannot change that by threatening us. You can kill us, but you cannot kill our souls. I hope our lives will serve as an example to you, to show you how serious our belief is.” Then she and her brother knelt and prayed. Then, in their own hearts they heard God whisper “Courage dear ones, courage.”