Persecution

Have you ever been persecuted for your faith?  Has anyone picked on you, put you down, or criticized you for your relationship with Jesus?  Have you been abused or beaten because you love the Lord?

Persecution seems like a terrible word.  It sounds evil and hurtful.  Persecution is generally feared.

Living my life in small town Nebraska, I have rarely felt the sting of persecution for my faith.  But one day my husband informed me that his ex-wife had said we should not be ‘pushing the religion thing so hard’ where their daughters were concerned.  At first I was confused, ‘that’s our job’ I thought.  Not in the exact words of ‘pushing religion’, but God expects us to teach and instruct our kids in his ways.  And the girls love to pass that instruction on to their mom’s side of the family.  Then the thought occurred to me … ‘we were persecuted!’  Now, I do realize this is a very, very, minor form of persecution – but persecution can be named.  And do you know what?  It didn’t sting, it didn’t hurt, and it didn’t bother me a bit.  In fact, it felt amazing!  It was awesome to have it confirmed that our faith (and our daughter’s faith) shows so much that I was told to quit.  Wow, I thought, I really must be doing something right!  In Acts 5:40 the apostles were beaten and told not to speak in the name of Jesus ever again.  Acts 5:41 says “The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus” Wow!  They were excited!  They were excited because the persecution told them they were doing their job well.  Persecution is not to be feared.

If you are persecuted for your faith…  

WELL DONE! 

God is proud of you.