Light The Darkness - Nino

FOURTH CENTURY

She was a stranger in a strange land, and yet her quiet devotion won a nation to Christ. Her name was Nino, and while many legends have circulated about her, we’ll try to stick to the basic story.

It was the AD 320s, in the kingdom then known as Iberia, now part of Georgia, tucked between Turkey and Russia. A very early historical document calls Nino a “captive woman,” a slave transported from somewhere in the Roman Empire to this outlying land. Her life of virtue and prayer gained the attention of the Iberians, and she explained that she worshiped Christ. This was a god they had never heard of.

A desperate mother sought a cure for her sick baby, and Nino prayed for healing. When the child was cured, word went out through the nation. Soon the queen, who had a serious illness, visited Nino and was healed. The king was overjoyed and wanted to pay this wonder-working slave, but the queen wisely explained that the only way to reward Nino was to worship Christ, her God.

The king refused at first, but shortly afterward, he was out hunting when a strange darkness enveloped him. As the ancient historian explains it, “Suddenly his spirit, tormented by despair of being rescued, was lit up by a thought: ‘If indeed that Christ whom the Captive had preached to his Wife was God, then let Him now deliver him from this darkness, that he too might forsake all other gods to worship Him.’” Before he could even utter that thought, “the light of day was restored to the world.”

He kept his vow, learning the way of Christ from Nino and leading the whole nation into faith. He even contacted Constantine, emperor of the newly Christianized Roman Empire, asking him to send a bishop and priests. And all this because of one woman who lived out her faith in less-than-ideal circumstances.

Influence is a curious thing. It’s hard to know when you’ll have an impact on others. When you show a simple kindness? When you pray for your neighbors or coworkers? When you humbly but courageously speak up about your faith? Nino did all these things, and God used her efforts mightily.

Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

Philippians 2:15