Contrary to the impression prosperity
preachers want to create, the Lord surely did not promise a comfortable life to
His disciples. A popular verse that is quoted by such preachers is found in
Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the
Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a
future.’” This passage,
when used to promote prosperity and a comfortable life as a reward or return
from the Lord, is quoted out of context because the Lord is talking to Israel,
not to the New Testament church. Yes, the principle of sowing and reaping
concerning giving does apply. The Lord will care abundantly for those who give
generously, but the word “comfortable” never occurs in the Bible. The word
“comfort” appears only in the context of “comforting one another in times of
suffering.” The Lord intended for Christians to live fruitful and godly lives (2 Timothy 3:12). Trouble, suffering, persecution, etc. are promised
frequently to those in the New Testament because Satan wouldn't want it.
The Lord never intended Christians to
live in prosperous financial comfort. He meant for us to live as soldiers do. “Endure
hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a
soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding
officer” (2 Timothy 2:
3, 4).
Jesus mentioned false accusations in
this beatitude. In our minds, the devil constantly accuses us falsely, making
us feel guilty. He is called the accuser of the brothers (Revelation 12:10),
who accuses us before God and in our minds. Feelings of inferiority, weak
self-image, and so on are often consequences of this kind of persecution and
hinder us from reaching our full potential in Christ.
Once again, we can quote Paul in 2
Corinthians 12:7: “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these
surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a
messenger of Satan, to torment me.” Aside from Paul becoming conceited, I believe Satan didn’t
like Paul to receive the great revelations from God and pass them on. He had to
attempt to cripple Paul’s faith and confidence through messing up his
circumstances and constantly tempting him to sin, which is a form of
persecution.
The enemy also uses people to bring
false witness, lies, and verbal abuse against Christians in their workplace.
These people end up in trouble simply because they witnessed and tried to help
people. The destructive words, behaviour, and bullying from peers, brothers,
sisters, parents, and colleagues are often Satan’s way of trying to break the
spirits of those the Lord has chosen to be His instruments. I personally had
many such persecutions ever since I was a boy, because the Lord had a plan for
my life and the enemy knew it. Christians, living in the strongholds of God,
are not exempt from the persecution promised to those serving Jesus. Only the
approach is slightly different.
If we return to our original
beatitude, we see that we are to rejoice and be glad when persecuted, but our
first reaction to persecution is often to complain. Many people desire to live
in Utopia because of impression prosperity preachers create by preaching the Word out of context. However, Jesus said that we must rejoice when we are persecuted as a
result of being in right standing with Him. Why? Because then the Kingdom of
heaven is guaranteed to be ours, and we are promised a reward.
Another reason to rejoice is because
persecution is a sign that we are fruitful, living godly lives, and in right
standing with God, making a difference in this world. Indeed,
all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12). Can we handle it?
Many question whether they can stand
up to persecution. Jesus told us that “My grace is sufficient for you,” “I can
do all things through Christ that strengthens me,” “I will be with you until
the end of the age,” “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” and “Greater is
He that is in me, than he that is in the world.”
The best approach to persecution is:
“I am being persecuted. I’m going to make it worth the while by being more
fruitful and giving the enemy a harder time. He makes things tough for me;
therefore I make life even tougher for him.”
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