Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again-my Savior and my God! (Psalm 43:5 [NLT])
Many people believe Christians do not face hard times. They have
this idea that once a person becomes Jesus’ follower, life will be a bed of roses
and no wolves will batter the door of his or her life. Those of us who have been
Christians for a while know the truth. We know life has hard times in store for
everyone because we live in a sinful world. At times, life is harder for Christians
because we believe in Jesus and follow Him. How could life be harder for
Christians than non-Christians? Because Satan constantly wages war against
Christians attempting to discredit them and Christ. Satan is the incessant wolf
at the door. For people who are not followers of Jesus, they might question why
Satan would fight more with Christians? Let’s consider a few role models of the
faith and their lives.
David, the man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 & Acts
13:22), though chosen by God to be the king over His people, the Israelites,
battled against his enemies. He was a man who had blood on his hands. The
Philistines, Saul and his army, Absalom’s army, and many others fought against
David because of jealousy, anger, or a desire for his land, people, and
resources. Even though God chose David, David still had difficult times. Some
of those difficulties came because of his own decisions, like when he lay with
another man’s wife. Wolves, temptations and persecutions from Satan battered
his door. Yet, during his difficult times, David still praised God and looked
up to Him as his strength, protection, joy, and hope. In Psalm 43, he pleaded
with God to rescue him from unjust people. David wrote many lamentations and
included in them stanzas expressing his hope in God who was his strength,
refuge, fortress, and joy. David’s life was not a bed of roses. If anything,
David lived like a shepherd, outdoors on rock and dirt much of the time, as he
fought against his adversaries. As king you’d expect him to have lived a
luxurious life. David’s enemies, the wolves, did not give him time to rest and
live that kind of life. Yet, he still had the joy of God. David chose to seek
God in the midst of his trials.
Job was a very righteous man, he revered God and shunned
evil (Job 1:1). He had seven sons and three daughters. Job owned 7000 sheep,
3000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of
servants. People considered him the greatest man in the East. (Job 1:2-3) One
day Satan entered the heavenly court and God asked him, “Where have you come from?”
During their conversation, Satan said to the Lord,
Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse You to your face.
“All right, you may test him,” the LORD said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” (Job 1:9-12 [NLT])
Satan threw everything at Job except for his own death. Even
his three friends turned on him and told him to plead for God’s forgiveness.
Surely, they thought, he had sinned against God and the horrible things
happening to him were because of that sin. Job lost his ten children, servants,
wife, herds, grain, produce, and buildings. Satan took everything he owned
away. Yet, Job did not turn away from following and obeying the LORD (Yahweh, the eternal One). Instead, during
the trials Satan threw at him, Job said, “As for me, I know that my Redeemer
lives, and He will stand upon the earth at the last.” (Job 19:25 [NLT]) Job,
though a righteous man, lived a life that was not a bed of roses. Yes, God
blessed him, and those blessings were very good, but he faced trials. The
wolves battered his door. To prove the faith of Job, God allowed Satan to test
him. Satan’s test failed. Job’s life demonstrates Satan trying God’s children.
It shows this child of God’s life was not always fragrant and pleasant. After
the season of trails by Satan, God blessed Job more than He had in the first
part of his life. He doubled the number of his animals and gave him seven more
sons and three more daughters. Besides this, Job included his daughters in his
will along with their brothers to receive an inheritance. Doing this was very
unusual because only men could inherit in their patriarchal society. Job
remained firm in his faith in God during his trials. He grew stronger because
of them. During his time of trials, Job chose to seek God and draw on His joy
to get him through his difficult times.
Consider any of the disciples of Christ. They each faced
persecution. People killed several of them. Many of the disciples faced
imprisonment. Even today, Jesus’ followers face persecution, torture, and martyrdom
because of their faith. Christians’ lives are not always a bed of roses. Yes,
God blesses them, but they, too, face hard times–illnesses, lack of money,
hunger, taunting, persecution, mocking, and death at the hands of other people.
People who are not Christians consider the persecutions and wonder why a person
would risk living like that and then they, themselves, turn away or they become
the persecutors. Another group of people consider today’s Christians and the
history of Christians and wonder what would make a person so strong in his or
her faith to continue following Jesus when he or she knows persecution will
come. Consider what Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 10:16-18, 21-23, 28,
& 34-39,
16 Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about Me.
21 A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. And all nations will hate you because you are My followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.
28 Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
34 Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
35 I have come to set a “man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 Your enemies will be right in your own household!”
37 If you love your father or mother more than you love Me, you are not worthy of being Mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than Me, you are not worthy of being Mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow Me, you are not worthy of being Mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it. [NLT]
Jesus told His disciples that Christians’ lives will not always
be a bed of roses. Their lives showed this to be true. Expect trials,
persecutions, and even death. Students and slaves should expect no less that
what happened to their teachers and masters. Wolves will batter the door of
your homes if you are a Christian. Satan wants to discredit you and your
testimony about Jesus. Notice, Jesus’ disciples chose to go through the trials,
but they didn’t do it alone. They drew on the strength God gives. They counted
it all joy. A joy they received from the source of joy, God, the Father.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 [ESV])
Christians should expect and will live through hard times. Jesus
said it and believers lived out this truth in the Old and New Testaments, and in
every generation since then. Satan is the incessant wolf at the door. He constantly
tries to defeat the testimony of Christians about Christ. Yet, we need not
fear. We can have joy even in difficult times. Why? Because God is our
Redeemer. He is our refugee and strength. From Him we can have joy and hope.
How can we have joy even while suffering? David explained and proclaimed it in
Psalm 43:4. “There I will go to the altar of God, to God-the source of all my joy.
I will praise You with my harp, O God, my God!” [NLT] Because God is the source
of joy, we can have joy since we are Christians. Because Jesus defeated death
and sin, we have hope beyond what we are facing and beyond this mortal life. Go
to the altar of God. Rejoice because God is your joy. Your source never dries
up like the land, water, and human bodies. It never rusts or corrodes.
Our Source of Joy is Eternal.
God is our Source of Joy!
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans 12:12 [NIV])
Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8-9 [NIV])
Lord, You are the
fountain of all blessings. From You flows hope, joy, love, truth,
righteousness, and all good things. Forgive me for losing hope and grasping
only the joy of the moment instead of seeking You, the fount of blessings and
the God of my soul. Lord, help me recall You and Your promises and blessings
when I walk through dark times. Help me stand strong in Your strength
remembering the hope You have given me through the death and resurrection of
Your Son, Jesus. Help me have joy even when facing trials because You are my
strength and shield. Because of You, I have hope. Lord, help me not to shrink
away from difficulties, but to walk courageously through them with You so I may
grow closer to You and become more like You. Because of Your grace, I not only
can prevail in these situations, but I have eternal life with You. Thank you,
Lord. Amen.
