BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE

“Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”  (Hebrews 13:3, NIV)

One of the ways God has confronted me with my sin of self-pity during my chronic illness years is through The Voice of the Martyrs magazine (VOM) and website.  These resources contain testimonies of suffering Christians, many killed or imprisoned simply for their faith in Christ and possessing a Bible.  For instance, very few people sentenced to labor camps in North Korea have ever lived to tell about it.  A missionary in North Korea tells of her imprisonment there, “I met one woman who was twenty-five.  She had been caught with a single Bible and had already spent three years in prison.”  Many active Christians in North Korea are placed in prison with an average sentence of fifteen years.  An estimated ten percent of all believers in North Korea are currently in prison.  Others have been publicly executed. 

I wonder what these Christians would say when I grumble  and have a bad attitude about my limitations?  Or when I complain about what we have for dinner?  You see, these Christians teach me something.  They show me what it’s like to be truly committed to Jesus Christ, to serve Him without complaint and whatever the cost.  We Christians in America tend to be weak and soft, myself included.  We hate suffering; we resent it when we have to suffer, and we really have no idea what it’s like to truly suffer for our faith in Christ.  Christians in other countries don’t run from suffering, they embrace it. 

If we believe that being a Christian means we should never have to be sick or suffer in this life, then we are very wrong. 

Today, let us follow the godly example of suffering Korean Christians and seek to glorify God through our suffering, not complain about it.  Then others will be drawn to Christ.

Dear Jesus:  Thank You for the suffering You bring into each of our lives to conform us more into your image and to build character in us.  Help us to be lights shining for you, especially in our suffering, that others might be drawn to You.