Every so often, I get the urge to complain about the fact that dishes need to be done and there is another load of laundry to fold. I feel a little put out that our grass is too high and there is no one else to go the grocery store. Sometimes I get annoyed that my children want me to fill out school papers, read another book or play another game.
Then I hear about the Christians who are being persecuted for their faith in a hostile land. I remember that every day there are those who face dire difficulties and count their belief in Christ more valuable than the ease of life. These are heroes. These are the ones who have counted the cost and chosen the jewels of eternity above the trinkets of this world.
I feel helpless to offer encouragement or aid to brothers and sisters in Christ, but they have my prayers. I pray they have courage and strength. I pray I could hold the same banner of faith that they do if I was faced with the charge to convert or die. Convert, or my child will die. I believe I would chose Christ. I even have tiny desire to have the privilege of taking such a bold stand in His name, to have the honor and fellowship of His suffering.
Most of all, I feel small for my petty complaints. I am reminded that while there are annoyances that I must deal with day to day, most of my issues are not eternal in nature. I am praying for my fellow Christ followers and I'm asking the Lord if there is any more He would ask me to do. What are you doing?
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. - Hebrews 11 36-38
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