The God Who Gave Me Gloves

One day, when I was serving in the army, I discovered that my gloves were missing. In the Korean army, items that had gone missing were not ‘stolen,’ but had merely ‘been relocated’ since many items were passed around and around within the army. On my way to the training station that morning, I could not reveal my hands since I was the only one without gloves. Gloves were part of the required attire, and if I were caught without gloves, my team leader would beat me. I was afraid of that.

Satan continuously tempted me, saying, “Hey, believing in God is no use in the army. You should steal someone else’s gloves too.” Yet whenever I thought about taking someone else’s gloves, God would give me an uncomfortable heart.

One night, I prayed under my blanket, “God, if I can’t find my gloves, I’ll get beaten, but I won’t steal.” My heart was set in front of God. The next day, a friend came to me.

“Ock Soo Park, you don’t have gloves?”

“Yeah, it’s a big problem. Someone stole them.”

“You idiot! You should have told me earlier. I have two pairs. You can have one.”

“You punk, where did you steal them?”

“What do you mean steal? My brother’s a lieutenant in the army. He gave me an extra pair when I had frostbite.”

After training that day, I cried a lot. “God, you’re alive even within the army!” Because God is with me, I have been able to do the work of the Gospel without seeking help from people or using humanistic methods.