OMETIMES IT TAKES a September 11 to shock us into revival. Sometimes it takes a personal test to fix our priorities. Whatever the challenge, we need to learn that God "is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6).

Seventh-day Adventist Mary Myers drives a bus for the New York City Transit Authority. Her test of faith came several years before the terrorist attacks on that city. It began with her insistence that regardless of the pressure brought to bear on her, she was not going to work on the Sabbath.

I like the way Mary put it during an interview for the 2002 religious liberty emphasis video. "When I was a child, I often played with mud and fashioned creatures," she remembered, "but I was never able to breathe into any of those things that I had made and make them live. I think of how God created the world; He made man from the dust of the ground. And He did all this in six days, and he set the Sabbath—the seventh day—aside; and He gave it to us. And who am I not to be obedient to my maker?"

Mary held to her convictions—stubbornly, in the estimation of some, but always confident that she was taking the correct stand. While she received legal help from her church, the case dragged on through years marked by job uncertainty and threats. Yet there was encouragement. At one point a judge remarked to her, "your case may be long, but you will win, and you will be happy."

Today the case is settled. Mary drives her big bus through the now more somber streets of New York City. And, as she told her church family recently, there are now 15 other people at her bus depot receiving Sabbath accommodation.

Who is Mary Myers? A faithful child of God, willing to put it all on the line for her Lord.

Years of Trial
For Barbara Gardner-Ihrig, a U.S. Postal Service worker in Orlando, Florida, Sabbath accommodation meant a 14-year trial of faith. "I made it known to them that I couldn't work on Sabbaths," she says of her initial employment, "but they just blew it off, saying it shouldn't be a problem."

At first she worked as a "part-time flexible," and she was able to avoid any Sabbath conflict. Ironically, when Barbara became qualified to "bid" for a full-time position, she still lacked the seniority to request Sabbaths off. Then she was called into the office and asked to sign termination papers: Sabbath was indeed a problem for the post office.

Barbara left and took other employment at half the salary. She also sought legal help from her church to protest her treatment at the Postal Service. It took two years, but eventually she was reinstated under an agreement whereby she would remain a part-time flexible worker and not be required to go full-time and bid on her shifts. It was a victory of sorts.

Amazingly, management tried five times in the next two years to pressure her into a regular position that would require Sabbath work. She resisted and held firm to her convictions.

That persistence seemed finally rewarded when she was allowed to "back into" a full-time job that didn't require Sabbath compromise. But after several years without conflict, system automation eliminated her position, and Barbara was regularly scheduled for Friday night work.

The supervisor ignored Barbara's requests for accommodation. She was regularly marked "absent without leave." It was effectively a pay cut. And she was under threat of dismissal again.

And again the Religious Liberty Department intervened on her behalf. After another two years she was granted a hearing. The supervisor was hostile, and Barbara lost. "They kept insisting that I work Sabbath—even once a month," remembers Barbara. She told them, "I can't do it even once a month—that's compromise."

Then, more than 14 years after her first employment at the Postal Service, things changed dramatically. The Religious Liberty Department pursued Barbara's rights under a federal office management policy that clearly covered Sabbath accommodation. A new supervisor quickly affirmed in writing that she would have no Friday night or Saturday work assignments. All the warning memos and attendance demerits were removed from her permanent record.

Is her test of faith over? Maybe not. Continued automation and management changes may again challenge her commitment. "You can't compromise," says Barbara Gardner-Ihrig today in a voice softened by debilitating illness resulting from exposure to toxic chemicals in the workplace. "You must hold fast. To do that, you must have a good relationship with God, because He's going to be the only one there for you at times."

There is something remarkable about this retelling of the faith trials of these two women: one a bus driver in a city traumatized by terrorist attacks, the other a worker in an agency beset by anthrax threats. No one could know when their stories were chosen by the North American Division Religious Liberty Department—in May 2001—for its 2002 Liberty awareness campaign how their locations and employers would be spotlighted in the news.

Of course, the narrative of faith is not frozen in any particular time frame. In Hebrews 11 Paul covers centuries of commitment in holding up the heroes of faith. There is a distinctly militant tone to his outline. And why not? This is a battle to the finish against evil on a far more cosmic scale than anything that could even be contemplated in post-September 11 military exercises. Each of us has a part to play in that larger struggle. Our victories are determined by faithfulness to principle, commitment amid the everyday compromises that are constantly offered to us.

Serving God and Country
Yet another religious liberty case highlights the continuing challenge to be faithful. Air Force Major Allen Davis is living a boyhood dream of flying the big planes. He flies the biggest, including the giant C-5A transport. He is determined to serve both his God and his country.

Not long ago he faced a conflict that could have led to court martial and military disgrace—and the issue was his faithfulness to the Sabbath. Last year, on a training exercise in Korea, he was charged with being AWOL on Saturday—the Sabbath. Although Major Davis was under the impression that accommodation had been made for the Sabbath absence, the commanding officer in Korea thought differently.

For two months the major faced the threat of court martial. He had to deal with lawyers, depositions, and the input of both military chaplains and senior military officers. In the end he was cleared and his career "saved." Major Davis had remained faithful to his Savior and what the day required of him.

"I love my God and I love the Air Force," says Davis. "I never expected those loyalties to come into conflict like this."

Which brings us back to the crucial questions: Who am I? Am I willing to risk all for my faith? Am I committed to protecting not just the general freedoms the flag-waving populace holds so dear, but, even more important, the freedoms and obligations that derive from knowing our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?

Religious liberty is precious beyond all computing. The blood of Jesus—freeing us from sin and freeing us to choose what we will do with Him—is our guarantee of its undying value.

_________________________
Lincoln Steed is editor of Liberty magazine.