DAY NINE: Happy Are the Persecuted

In God’s sovereign goodness, he will take persecution and use it to teach us how to rely on him to provide.

When we are tested, God produces endurance in us. As we are personally persecuted for following Jesus and remaining true to the way he calls us to live, we learn to endure. Endurance in this context expresses a God-inspired, Christ-exalting determination in the face of adversity. As you view the mercies of God, you find that persecution for the name of Jesus is an honor. Endurance allows us not to grow in bitterness or pettiness, but to be patient with a culture that is fractured and hurt. The good life is found in becoming who you were meant to be.

James goes on to say we should consider it “joy” when persecution comes. James is restating Matthew 5:10–11. But this seems insane! Why should we be joyful when persecutions come? We want naturally to do the exact opposite.

Here’s why: because the good life is being cultivated in us. The good life is a life in which God orchestrates everything to make us look like the Author of life, King Jesus. The good life is becoming good:

He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works. (Titus 2:14)

God redeems us with his sin-cleansing blood, making us his own, and out of joyous new hearts, we want to share and be his goodness in the world.

As you decide by faith to pursue the good life and experience the kingdom of God, you will encounter persecution and opposition from the dark powers that rule this present age. At the very least, you will experience internal spiritual persecution as you fight sin and shed the old way of living. But likely, you’ll experience some level of it from the outside world too.

Persecution has a way of bullying us into backing down from our destiny as God’s royal priests. When we pursue God’s righteousness and his kingdom, we will experience backlash at our corporate jobs. We will be mocked and disliked by teammates. When we choose to walk in Jesus’ sexual ethic as an act of worship, we will be made fun of or even disliked. When we choose forgiveness over bitterness and love over hate, we will be called soft. When we choose Jesus over political parties, we will be rejected.

But one of the greatest gifts we will ever receive is being persecuted for Jesus’ glory. We are to be happy when our weaknesses are revealed, when we are insulted, when we experience hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ’s sake. Why? Because in these moments, we rely on the power of Christ that resides in us. We are at our strongest when we are at our weakest.

READ 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

Why are we to be happy when we experience hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ’s sake?

PRAY

Holy Spirit, give me the grace to trust Jesus, even when I do not understand. Give me the grace to obey King Jesus when it’s hard and hurtful. In Jesus’ name, amen.