Jackie Pullinger heard a special summons from God from the security and comfort of her English home. It took her to the Walled City in Hong Kong, a lawless, impoverished maze. This heavily populated metropolitan area was notorious for its filth, criminality, and severe drug issue. Jackie discovered a world where hope seemed to be lost and misery was the order of the day.
You may be wondering why she went there. Jackie’s goal was to spread the transformative love of Christ to the city’s neglected souls, which was a straightforward but deep objective. She delivered the message of redemption and the prospect of a new life in Christ to people who were struggling with addiction, to the impoverished, the misfits, and the lost.
As an alternative to the gang-dominated street life, Jackie founded a youth club. She also established a radical approach to prayer-based drug rehabilitation, illuminating the transforming force of God’s love. Because of Jackie’s unwavering dedication to her goal, thousands of people who had been chained by heroin and societal rejection were able to start over.
Jackie was anchored by her religion despite the challenging reality she faced every day. The temptation to leave and give up on her purpose must have occasionally been too much for her given the severity of her hardships. But Jackie remained unwavering, a real illustration of 1 Corinthians 10:13. She was able to see firsthand that God is trustworthy and that He would not subject her to more temptation than she could handle.
God gave Jackie a “way of escape” from the Walled City’s gloom by giving her miraculous endurance rather than by taking her out of her current situation. She developed into a symbol of Christ’s love, transforming the Walled City’s darkest crevices from hopelessness to optimism.
The Walled City mission of Jackie Pullinger demonstrates the accuracy of God’s promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13. Despite the normal hardships of fear, hopelessness, and exhaustion, she did not succumb. Instead, God gave her the stamina to persevere.
No matter what struggles we go through, Jackie’s tale can give us comfort. Never forget that God is faithful no matter how great the temptation or struggle. He won’t allow you to succumb to temptation past your strength. He will always offer a way out of every situation—not always by taking away the difficulty, but by giving you the stamina to persevere, as He did for Jackie.
Let’s draw encouragement from God’s promise today and maintain our resolve in the knowledge that He will give us the fortitude we need to resist any temptation or obstacle that comes our way.
Prayer for the Day
Dear Heavenly Father,
I bring before you my struggles and temptations at this precise time of silence. Lord, I confess that sometimes these difficulties seem insurmountable, and I’m tempted to doubt myself, feel useless, or even give up. However, I’ve decided to focus on your pledge right now. In your Word, you gave me the assurance that no temptation would be too strong for me to handle. You’ve vowed to give people a route out and a method to persevere in every situation.
I so beg your power, O Lord. Be my endurance when the trial is too much. Be my way out when the temptation is too great. Help me to stay focused on you, knowing that you are there for me through every high and every down.
Dear God, strengthen my faith and fill me with your peace. Teach me to rely on the reality of your Word and your constancy as I stand. Remind me that even throughout my most difficult circumstances, you are at my side.
Help me to see the difficulties and temptations I face as chances to strengthen my faith, increase my trust in you, and become more like you for the sake of your glory rather than as insurmountable challenges.
Thank you for loving me and standing with me, God. I ask all this in the powerful name of my Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen
Reflection Questions
Can you think of a time when you believed the difficulties you were dealing with were too much to bear? How did you perceive God’s fidelity in the circumstance?
How does Jackie Pullinger’s story motivate you to resist your own temptations and trials?
What does the ‘route of escape’ in your current situation look like? How can you avoid looking for an easy way out and instead rely on God’s strength to persevere?
Faith Challenge
Find a challenging circumstance in your life this week, a place where you are dealing with temptation or adversity. Instead of looking for an easy way out, pray to God for the endurance. Share your difficulties with a close friend or mentor you can rely on, and ask them to join you in prayer for stamina and endurance. Finally, think about how you can, like Jackie did in the Walled City, shed the light of Christ’s love in a dark area in your own world. It can be someone who needs to hear some words of inspiration or a circumstance that calls for compassion and fairness. This week, take one step to spread Christ’s transforming love there.
