being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; - Philippians 1: 6 (NKJV)
Perplexed in this life? Absolutely! Despair? Not as long as our hope is centered in Christ. Not as long as we are rooted in the truth of the Word of God.
Thirdly, Paul reminds us that sometimes the battles we will face will be due to persecution. We may face the battle because of what we believe. Our family may not understand. Our co-workers may not understand. Remember that they simply do not understand because they cannot see:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1Corinthians 1: 18
The message of the cross is foolishness to them. When Jesus was on the cross He even asked God to forgive them for they knew not what they did. The comparison Paul uses for persecution is that we are not abandoned. No matter who may turn on us God never will. For those who believe we have the indwelling of the Spirit of God Himself within us! The same power that raised Christ from the dead is inside each of us. When Christ was speaking to His disciples about the Holy Spirit, He said,
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14: 15-18
We are not left as orphans! Whatever valley you find yourself in right now, God is still with you. Whatever persecution you find yourself in at the hands of men either within the church or the world God did not abandon you! Take solace in the words of the Psalmist:
The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1
Persecuted? Sure, we can expect that in our walks. Abandoned? Never. The final comparison Paul makes in our key verses is a reminder that there is a difference between being struck down and being destroyed. The New Living Translation says we might be "knocked down" but not destroyed. How many times have we all felt knocked down in this walk? If you find yourself knocked down and it doesn't feel familiar; then praise God for protecting you for so long! The fact is that we will always be knocked down in this life and in our walk. We will be knocked down by a world that doesn't understand us. We will be knocked down by the foolish pride of other men (or our own). We will be knocked down by our enemies and unfortunately, also by our friends. The very person we "dip the bread in the bowl" with, will also be our betrayer. Remember the words of Jesus:
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NLT)
But do we take heart during our trials and sorrows? Do we reflect to our peace; the Prince of Peace? Do we overcome the valley or does the desert consume us? Because while there is only one that has the power to destroy, we can help the enemy in our trials by feeling destroyed and by acting destroyed. We can make situations worse than they actually are. We can feel so hurt, confused, betrayed, or wronged that we start to feel as if somehow the situation is beyond God. We can be knocked down and simply stay there. It may even feel comfortable there, feeling wounded but self-righteous. The one thing we know for sure is if we do not get back up then we cannot be knocked down again. Of course we also cannot walk on. We cannot get past it. We are reduced to crawling; hardly the picture of the victorious Christian life. Just like Jesus says in this verse from John, we can expect in this life to be knocked down. But God always expects us to get back up in Christ and walk on.
Hard pressed on every side, perplexed, persecuted, and knocked down? Absolutely. Are these fun situations for us? No. But they are learning experiences. Times when we grow. Times when we are refined. Times when we can rely even more on Christ and strengthen our faith. God has a plan for each of us. It requires us to realize that we are not crushed, in despair, abandoned or destroyed. It requires us to get back on our feet again...and walk on into the plans God still has waiting for the faithful.
Reverend Anthony Wade July 19, 2010
