Modern tribulations - Devotion for 10/18/07

Modern tribulations – Devotion for 10/18/07

Recently here in Fayetteville, NC, there has been somewhat of a religious/political flap. A memorandum was sent out to all city and county employees by the city and county attorneys stating that no employee should pray “in the name of Jesus” at any public function or ceremony so as to prevent any potential lawsuits. There have been a few letters to the editor in the paper regarding this “persecution” that Christians are experiencing, and that if we “deny Christ, He will deny us.” In the mindset of persecution, I was drawn this morning to 2 Corinthians 11:24-28 as Paul describes some of his “persecutions”:

Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.”

Sometimes we forget what it really means to be persecuted. Going back to something I said earlier this week, John Wesley always felt that Christian when rightly practiced will always be met with resistance. In that mindset, persecution can be confirmation that you must be doing something right. Being told to not pray at a public government function in the name of Jesus is not persecution, although I would argue that abiding by it is compromise, which is something I can’t say I believe God feels too good about. I take strength in knowing that in the midst of all of Paul’s persecutions, struggles, and tribulations, although his body became weaker his faith seemed to be made stronger. Today, let us lift up in prayer all who today may actually be experiencing real persecution, real suffering, real hardships in the name of the Lord. And if our time ever comes, let us too be willing to face those same persecutions “in the name of Jesus.”