It's bound to happen

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

From the beginning Christians faced persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ, including the apostles. They faced horrible deaths at the hands of the opposition, as did many early church leaders. Truth is, Jesus warned them that persecution was inevitable. Persecution would come because others hated Him (Jesus) and others would hate them as well on account of believing in Him. (John 15)

Jesus’s life was in danger from the beginning. King Herod had ordered that all male children (2 years and younger) were to be killed in Bethlehem, trying to stop the prophecy of the coming Messiah (Matthew 2). As Jesus continued His life and ministry and performing miraculous signs and wonders, His opposition grew stronger and stronger against Him. Ultimately leading the leaders to nail Him to the cross.

After His death and resurrection, the apostles continued His works and they too became targets. There were multiple accounts of worldly and religious leaders telling them not to talk about the name of Jesus (Acts 4).

The thought of persecution for our faith has been brewing inside of me for a couple months now. And recently I’ve been hearing more thoughts and messages about persecution from others. I have learned through the years of my life journey, when a message starts to come from multiple areas, God is intentionally getting a message across and preparing us for something to come.

Persecution is bound to happen and usually happens when we take a stand or a courageous step in our faith. We live in a world where the message of Jesus Christ is attacked, and others are trying to stop it from being preached. Although, we may not be facing death for our faith in Christ, we still face persecution. We will face rejection from others for our faith, and many times we will be verbally attacked. There will be people who will try to shut us up and tell us we shouldn’t or can’t talk about our faith in Jesus. There will be people who are against us and turn others against us because of our faith. Unfortunately, it may even people who are close to us, including our family and close friends. Jesus never said we would have peace in this world, but that we may have peace in Him. 

I pray He grant us that peace today!