Let the Opposition Come

No one will take your joy from you. John 16:22

D.L. MOODY
In the second century, they brought a martyr before a king, and the king asked him to recant and give up Christ, but the man spurned the thought. The king said, “If you don’t do it, I will banish you.” The man smiled and answered: “You can’t banish me from Christ. He says He will never leave me nor forsake me” (Hebrews 13:5). The king got angry and said: “Well, I will confiscate your property and take it all from you.” And the man replied: “My treasures are laid up on high; you cannot get them” (Matthew 6:20). The king became still more angry and said: “I will kill you.” “Why,” the man answered, “I have been dead forty years; I have been dead with Christ; dead to the world. My life is hidden with Christ in God, and you cannot touch it” (see Colossians 3:3).

ERWIN LUTZER
Don’t you wish we had the faith of a martyr? In Oxford, England, I stood at the place where three famous martyrs were burned at the orders of Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary). I thought of their heroism, their steadfast faith, and their refusal to recant though facing the terror of the hot flames. And, because sometimes the fire burned slowly, they died a slow, terrible, and excruciating death.
We probably will not have to face such a challenge, but we are faced with the reality of being canceled by friends and relatives, the loss of a job, or the vilification of a hostile culture. Will we ask, “How much will this cost me?” Or simply, “What is the right thing to do?”
We will likely never be martyrs, but we can imitate their faith and example (Acts 5:41).

PRAYER
Father, may I rejoice when I am counted worthy to suffer for you.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Does our faith rely on comfort, or are we prepared to stand firm when the "fire" of public opinion turns against us?

How can we cultivate a "martyr’s grit" to handle the long-term pressure of living in a culture that vilifies our values?