Persecution: on which I am not an expert

I have been hesitant on what to write for this month's Romans 12 study.


You see, Romans 12:14 was up.

Bless those who persecute you.  Pray for them, do not curse them.

It's not because it isn't a great verse, because it really is.

No, I just don't feel like I am an expert on the subject.

Middle class American.  Hardly been off U.S. soil.

Certainly have not felt the pain of persecution.

Who am I to tell you about praying for those that persecute you like it's no big deal?

No, I just am afraid anything I will say will belittle the true pain, suffering, perseverance that is going on right now.

My fellow brothers and sisters, beat, jailed, ridiculed, killed.  All because they love Jesus. 

It's hard for me to wrap my mind around since I have had no experience in it.  I can have conversations in open public, can freely go to church, drive with a fish emblem on my back bumper.

Without a second thought of any repercussion from it.

But truly, if we are One Body, shouldn't our brother's and sister's enemies, be OUR enemies?

When we pray for our family that is in the trenches of a persecuted church, do you pray for their enemies as well as them?

It can be a hard pill to swallow.

But despite the headlines, the poverty, the war, the executions of children, God is still moving.

He said He would never leave us.  And He always keeps his promises.

So when we pray for those who are facing persecution because of their faith in Jesus, pray also for those that hate them, who kill them.  You never know how the Spirit will move.

Apostle Paul was there once.  And look how he turned out.

Let's not let up, give up in our praying.  Because the fervent prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:17).

Because we may be sitting pretty now, but there is no guarantee that will stay.  

And if and when that happens I will be encouraged to know that someone across the world will be praying for me, and for the changing of the hearts of my persecutors.

Comments

Post a Comment

Tell me how you live intentional. I'd love to know!

Popular posts from this blog

The jig is up

Image
OK, I've kept it a secret for 6 months, but now that it's over, I'm bragging on my man. : ) Since April, Paul has been training to run the Columbus Marathon. We were able to get a few days off of work, grandparents watched the kids, and on Saturday morning Paul and I headed down to Columbus. We headed downtown to pick up his race packet and then spent the rest of the day and night with Ben, Jaime, and Alayna . Dark and early (5 AM) Sunday morning we rolled out of bed, Paul got geared up, and we headed downtown again to find a decent parking spot. Thankfully we found a good place to park and had Paul to the starting area at 6:30 AM (an hour before start). Ben graciously came along so I didn't have to wander around Columbus on my own -thanks, Ben! It was mid-30's at the start with a slight breeze, but skies were clear and the sun came out once it rose. Ben and I saw Paul off at the start and then headed to the halfway point (got some coffee along the way) and
Read more

Madeline Nichole Suvar

Image
The newest addition to our family came into this world on February 1st. She weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and was 19 inches long. She surprised us all with having black hair - Owen and Hannah were born with next to nothing for hair and even then it was real light. She impressed the doctors at the hospital by gaining back her birth weight and passing it by an ounce (a rarity, I guess). Our first day at home (today) went well. She was awake for most of the morning and through lunch and then took a nap in the afternoon. She nurses well and doesn't get upset by all the noise Owen and Hannah make. Hannah loves to come over and pat her on the head and Owen will talk to her and hold her hand. I am working on wrapping my mind around the fact that I am a mother of 3 - it makes me feel old! :) I'm healing well from my C-Section, the hardest part is forcing myself to stay put and letting Paul do things for me. He's a great nurse, cook, father, husband.... : )
Read more

Of loss and hope

Image
Thank you to those who have reached out to me, prayed for me, since my post on Sunday. I am humbled yet again by the love of Christ, and His followers. I spoke of hope. And truly I am learning more about hope as life goes on.  I understand it more than I did 10 years ago. And even now, this week, I feel I am seeing new dimensions of it that I did not know existed. I am a realist. With a small dose of optimism.  And I think that it is that sprinkling of optimism that is keeping me from swinging way over to the pessimistic side of things. Because I truly want things to work out, HOPE that things will work out.  But I keep my hand on the shift knob, because I just may have to throw things into a lower gear because well, I'm just hoping for things to work out, but kinda doubt they will. I hope that made sense to someone.  You may need to go back and read it.  I'll wait. .......... I think I live most of my life, and approach most circumstances, like that.
Read more