Every day, thousands of Christians die violent deaths. They are being harassed, driven from their homes, rejected by their families and society, arrested, beaten in the streets and even their churches and homes, tortured, and killed.
Something worth noting: most of these believers are not persecuted because they believe in Jesus. No, that is not a crime worthy of death. Their crime is that they share. Dear friends, what is holding you and I back from sharing with the same tenacity that our brethren are in third world countries? Why do we wait till there is a high price to pay before we even consider sharing the Gospel? How do we know that we will share it in the hard times if we don’t take advantage of the good times? I know, we get so caught up in our own lives, I know we do. But maybe in our daily Scripture reading, we should be like the writers of the epistles. Have you noticed how everything is told in light of the Gospel, and ultimately brought back to that point? Maybe we should be daily reminding ourselves of the wonder of the Gospel.
Maybe, instead of constantly trying to improve ourselves and make ourselves “better Christians,” we should take heed to Christ’s warning to the Ephesian church, and remember our first love. Did you notice that in Hebrews 6, after it says “moving on from the foundation,” it goes on into a deeper exposition of the Gospel? Maybe we’re never supposed to get past the Gospel, but deeper into it. Maybe that’s what the Ephesian church missed, and possibly us, too.
I heard Todd Friel say something not too long ago, and would like to share it, because there’s a lot of wisdom in it: “The Gospel isn’t the thing that just gets us saved, it’s the thing that grows us in sanctification. And the more we dwell on that, and the more we ponder that, and the more we think about that, the more it is going to cause us to have joy, and then it is gonna be demonstrated on the outside, with things like confession of sin, being and encourager, and forgiving others even when they have sinned against us even in the worst way imaginable.” That’s profound, isn’t it? And you know what? It’s true!
So why do I read about the sufferings of the church around the world? I tell you, sometimes they are really, really hard to read, and they often seem like the same things over and over, but they are so real to those experiencing them! But why should I read them, as someone on the other side of the world? For one thing, to obey Hebrews 13:3 and remember my brethren and lift them up in prayer. For another thing, it brings me back to something…
When I read their stories, I am struck that in the midst of our greatest sufferings, God is still sovereign. He has supreme and independent power; nothing can stop Him, and nothing is too difficult for Him. Knowing that He is with His children when they suffer makes me think of each individual’s suffering in light of this fact. All heirs of Christ are appointed to afflictions (1 Thessalonians 3:3, Romans 8:17), but surely, just as we partake of His sufferings, we will partake of His resurrection (Philippians 3:9-11). God’s ways are so far above ours, that it is difficult at first for us to comprehend how He can be glorified in our weaknesses and sufferings. But a relatively new lesson for me is that when a wretch such as I has assurance that Christ’s completed work has made me righteous before God, and this standing before God does not go away in suffering, I become a greater display of God’s grace. This glorifies God in the presence of believers and unbelievers, and of angels and demons; they see that nothing separates me from God, that God works His will through the worst of my circumstances, and that Christ’s sacrifice does not cease to be sufficient for me. “For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:15) As I read these stories of precious brothers and sisters, I see that not only have they learned to trust God in a fuller sense through their sufferings, but that each of their trials was something that God trusted them with. They are counted worthy, of whom the world is not worthy, to share in the sufferings of Christ (Hebrews 11 and Philippians 1:29).
God is sovereign through the suffering of His children. He works not merely in spite of evil, but through it. He does not orchestrate the evils that cause us suffering, but He planned that He would be glorified through things we never imagined a holy, loving God could be glorified through. The more I observe His character, the more I see that He will display His glory, in any way He wills. Just when Satan thinks he has hindered God’s will, God reveals a greater plan that no man could have ever thought of. It is cases like these that replicate, in small ways, Christ’s ultimate victory.
Unlike any other worldview in the world, I can look at suffering and see the hand of a Good and Mighty God. How ironic is that? How phenomenal it is!
Only the Lord knows how many souls are impacted by His work in all of these believers, but we do know that their lives are never out of His hand. When God said in Isaiah 41:10, “I will uphold you with My righteous right hand,” He really meant it. Even if we are confused and downcast at first when the storms of life come, we soon see, along with our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world, that God is never helpless. He is with us, even when we suffer, and He is always working all things in our lives out for His glory. One thing is for sure: when He opens a door, no one can shut it, and when He shuts a door, no one can open it (Revelation 3:7). I pray that in everything, even the inevitable sufferings and persecutions for every child of God, we would come to know more and more the truth of this Scripture:
“Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21, NLT)
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