Blessed Are The Persecuted

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” Matthew 5:10

Many of us believe that we cannot relate to this final beatitude since we live in a country that exercises the right to worship. There are still many people in this world who are persecuted for their following of Christ with torture and death. While these are certainly extreme degrees of service to God we all experience our own form of attacks and suffering for living a righteous life, a life pursuing the excellence of God.

When we make a conscious decision to turn away from our own standard of living and adopt God’s righteous standard of living Satan will turn up the heat. Living a righteous life is far from being perfect but it is choosing to live a life bent towards Christ through righteous living. In 2006, I made a decision one morning to go deeper with Christ and began doing little things differently which eventually turned my life upside down. As I grew more intimate with God, Satan launched a campaign against me. I have been under physical, emotional, mental and spiritual attacks. There were days that Satan won the battle but God was victorious in the war. God has had experience with Satan throughout time and is well aware of the onslaught of attacks from him to His children. God is all about preparing us for these attacks so we also must be aware and prepared. ‘Be prepared in season and out of season…with great patience and careful instruction.’ 2 Timothy 4:2.

He will make our steps firm as we navigate through suffering because He delights in us. ‘If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he will make his steps firm though he stumble he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.’ Psalm 37:23. To stumble is to trip up, to skin a knee or bruise a bone requiring minimal healing. To fall is to most likely sustain injuries, perhaps even a break, creating a longer period of healing and the possibility of secondary problems. With God carrying us through our suffering, we have the guarantee that while some days we may stumble in our faith we will never fall from His grace.

Though I stumble I will not fall for Christ holds my hand, sustains me and watches for cliffs…blessed are those who are persecuted for they will experience Christ.