Naghmeh Abedini: Pastor Saeed’s arrest stopped her ‘selfish’ ‘fearful’ lifestyle
The wife of Pastor Saeed Abedini, an American pastor jailed in Iran, wrote a piece on True Woman detailing her emotional transition and how her husband’s plight has changed her life.
“I finally learned how to fight my deceptive selfish flesh on a daily basis; every nag, tantrum, despairing thought, and fear,” wrote Naghmeh in the TrueWoman.com Aug. 27 article. “Before Saeed was thrown into one of the world’s worst prisons, I struggled with fear and anxiety. More than anything, I was afraid of flying and speaking in front of people.”
Saeed was arrested while working on a state sanctioned orphanage in Iran. He has been beaten regularly, prevented from seeing his parents who still lived in Iran and was declined appropriate medical care on multiple occassions.
This is what she writes:
For twenty-five years, my flesh had been throwing a tantrum cloaked in seasons of deep despair and anxious thoughts that made me always pity myself. It was during the tantrum that my eyes were finally opened to the sin that I lived in every single day of my life. The writings of the apostle Paul revealed the importance of dying to my flesh daily and the ongoing battle between the flesh and the Spirit within each of us:
I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:21–24)
The words of Jesus in Luke 9:23 came to life:
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”Jesus said that death to self and carrying the cross (a sign of submission) is our calling as Christians. It’s the only way to follow Him and be His disciple. How had I missed such a basic and important lesson?
Naghmeh has spoken openly about the events in Evin Prison, Saeed’s transfer to dangerous areas with murderers and even spoke before the United Nations. Most recently ISIS prisoners are threatening the Pastor and Naghmeh is calling for the State Department and President Obama to act.
Read her full article HERE
The Global Dispatch has interviewed Naghmeh twice during this ordeal.
Check out the top stories, these interviews and more on The Dispatch HERE
Pastor Saeed Abedini
