Rejoicing in Persecution

Monday, May 15, 2017

Rejoicing in Persecution

Matthew 5:10-12
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. ¹² Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

1 Peter 3:13-14

Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,

James 1:12

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

1 Peter 4:13-14

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Romans 5:3-5

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

James 1:2-3

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

Devotional:

Wow. When I read passages like this, I have two reactions. First, I go “Yeah! That’s right. No matter what, I will follow Jesus! No matter what, I will stand up for him!” I’m like a spiritual Olympian, taking my place on the pedestal to receive my medal. I will be victorious!! Yeah! And the crowd will cheer!

And then there’s the other inner person, a scared little girl cowering under my blankie as I try to imagine ways to avoid ever being hated or persecuted…for any reason.

My entire life, I have worked very hard to figure out what it is like to be normal. I don’t mean boring, I don’t mean like everyone else. It’s just that there were so many things in my upbringing that were off base, confusing, not the way that they should be, that I have wanted to make a better life for myself and ultimately for my own children. It has been an uphill climb.

Rejection is hard for me. As I mentioned before, I was the new girl a lot of the time growing up, and later in life as well. It often seemed like I was on the outside looking in, and even worse I had no idea how to find my way into a circle of people without feeling awkward and ill equipped.

The interesting thing is that whenever I did find myself in the inner circle with “popular” people, I also found myself disappointed. Gossip, unkindness, jockeying for position, putting others down for prideful reasons, or lack of integrity seemed like they were considered “normal” too. Oh, no thank you…..

The balance is something that the Holy Spirit is still teaching me. I desire greatly to love others with God’s agape love, unconditionally, full of mercy. However, I also want to stand up and stand firm for truth, what is right, and embrace that when others don’t like me for this, it is expected and I can rejoice that I am doing what is right.

It is also so important to remember that this is not a license to move about our lives with anger and frustration, pointing fingers at others who do not walk rightly. There will be times when God will lead us to confront, but we are not called to stand on a street corner angrily screaming “REPENT!!” as innocent (or ok, perhaps not so innocent) bystanders give us a wide berth and try to avoid getting too close. (Would you believe I saw this once before I returned to the Lord? And let me tell you, I was NOT persuaded…..).

I don’t want to be hated. I don’t want to be looked at like I am an alien. But I do want to be pleasing to my Lord, and stand firm for the truth. I ask that we could pray together today that we would be firm, rooted, grounded in the truth, and that no matter the cost we will follow His Word and raise our children the same.

Prayer:

Holy Lord, I thank You that even when the Word is hard, You have Your heart for us right in the center of it. I don’t want to be hated, God, but You are the One Who is ultimately being rejected when I am rejected for the sake of the Gospel and the sake of Your Truth.

Lord, today, I ask that You will minister strength to each one of us as we desire to embrace this difficult aspect of the life of the believer. Help us to continue to walk in humility while standing firm.

I lift up my child(ren) today and ask that You will also build into them a strong faith that will not swerve when met with persecution. Build them up in You and let their identity be firmly grounded.

I lift up (area of need in my child(ren)’s life) and ask for Your healing, deliverance and solution.

I bless You today and thank You that You are intimately acquainted with all our ways.

In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.