Rejoice, and be Exceeding Glad (Matthew 5:12)

Grace and peace unto you, Saints.

I hope that your day has been joyous regardless of what trials and tribulations you may be going through right now.  We all know that tribulations are part of the job description for the Body of Christ, but some of us may feel like we have had more than our share of difficult times.  If you are one of these, trust me, you are not alone.  Be encouraged, and remember what the Word tells us:

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it”  (1 Corinthians 10:13).

In other words, God will not put more on you than you can handle.  Understand that this is a promise: God will not let you go through something without providing a way for you to get through it.  That may mean that you are stronger than you thought you were.  It may mean that God will strengthen you for the particular trial you are going through.  Whatever the circumstance, the end result will be that you will persevere.  The world says it a different way, “Whatever doesn’t kill me will only make me stronger.”  They borrowed that from us.

At the end of the day, the purpose of these trials is to strengthen our testimony.  A Christian with a weak testimony is an ineffective witness for Christ.  A Christian with a strong testimony is a powerful witness for Christ, because he has been through some things and come through them, and gives God all the glory.  Now that’s living.

Paul went through a few things himself.  In fact, there was no one who suffered more than the apostle Paul.  Yet, through all his sufferings, he remained joyous, because he looked past them to the reward that was waiting for him.  Understand that a Christian who hasn’t been through anything is probably a lukewarm Christian.  If you are about God’s business, the Devil will not be happy with you.  And he will let you know that.

But we are not to give up.  Listen:

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed;

We are perplexed, but not in despair;

Persecuted, but not forsaken;

Cast down, but not destroyed;

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10).

Did you see that?  We are to be a walking, talking, living, breathing carbon copy of what the Lord Jesus went through when He walked this earth.  The Bible says that Jesus was
a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).  Why is it that they always portray Jesus smiling and showing all his teeth, as though everything was just a bouquet of roses?

That would be very inconsistent with what we know of Jesus’ life.  If everyone thought Jesus was such a great guy, He never would have been crucified.  The people would not have stood for it.  There would have been a riot.  We know that that didn’t happen.  He suffered way before the Cross.  And in like fashion, so do we suffer.  If you are being persecuted for your witness of Jesus Christ, you are in good company:

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. 

“Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).

I don’t know about you, but I would rather be in the company of prophets than all the celebrities in the world.

So, no matter how bad things may seem, the fact that you are going through something is proof that you will come out the other end OK.  Latch on to this promise, Saints; hold onto it for dear life.  And rejoice!

Be encouraged, and look up; for your redemption draweth nigh.

The Still Man

Copyright © 2011 Anthony Keeton, The Still Man ®.  All Rights Reserved.