I Am NEsimerkki

“Fighting Against God” Shahnaz and EbiIran Iran In his apartment high above a northern Iranian city, Ebi angrily clenched and unclenched his fists. How could my daughter do this to me? “Shahnaz,” he said, turning to her, “you are just going through a phase. It is like your fascination with this Islamic prophet or that American musician.” “Father, that is not true,” she answered. “I am a Christian. I am a follower of Jesus—a passionate follower of Jesus!” His heart pounded harder. I must remain calm. “Father, are you listening to me? For the first time in my life, I am content!” He said nothing and did nothing. But for two years, he grew angrier. Then he and his wife came up with an idea. They would fight Shahnaz’s obsession with this Jesus by tempting her with love. Before she had been duped into this conspiracy against Allah, she had been in love with a young Muslim living nearby. They invited the man and his parents to their apartment to discuss a possible marriage. When Shahnaz learned they had lied about her renewed interest in him, she cried and became angry. She no longer loved this man or wanted to marry him. Nor did she want to embarrass him or his parents. So she asked her father to talk with her privately. “I’m sorry, father,” she said, “but I am a Christian now. I cannot marry a Muslim.” Later, realizing Shahnaz had rejected their son, the parents left with him in a huff. “How dare you shame us like this!” her father shouted when their guests left. Ebi unfastened his belt, yanked it from his pants, and whipped it across his daughter’s back. Whack. She collapsed to the floor. “Do you realize that I can kill you right now, and it is legal?” he shouted. Shahnaz cowered as he whipped her again, and again, and again. “I am going to keep beating you until you get on your knees and renounce Christianity and return to Islam.” “Lord,” Shahnaz cried out, “I do not want to deny my faith. Jesus, help me!” As her father prepared to hit her again, something very strange happened. As if guided by some unseen force, he stretched his arm wide to the side and began whipping himself in the face. Whack! Whack! Whack! “Father?” “I . . . am . . . a . . . bad . . . person,” he said softly, his voice no longer laced with anger. “I am so dirty. I am so stupid. I am fighting with God.” Shahnaz watched in amazement at the puzzling miracle that unfolded in front of her. Her father stepped toward Shahnaz, who instinctively stepped back. He opened his arms—and wrapped his arms around her. His wife stared in astonishment. Shahnaz felt the unexpected assurance that she was safe. “Please forgive me,” he said. “Now I realize who I am fighting against.” Ebi then told her about a vision he had. “As I was beating you, I saw Jesus with His left arm wrapped around you. With His right arm He motioned me to stop the whipping. He said to me, ‘Stop beating her. She belongs to me.’ I realized as I was swinging the belt that I was beating Jesus.” Weeks later, after many discussions with Shahnaz and other believers about the Jesus his daughter would not cast aside, Ebi humbled himself and accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior of his life. Now as Ebi looked down on the city from his apartment, he experienced the peace of God, a peace he’d never felt before and still could not fully understand. He glanced at his watch. It was time to get ready. Guests would be arriving soon for the church meeting he and his wife had offered to host.