PERSECUTIONS AND PESTILENCES

"And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Matthew 24:6-8)

"So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Mark 10:29-31)

"Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." (2 Timothy 3:12)

Okay, who needs persecutions and pestilences? Can't we write on or discuss a user-friendly topic? We can but that will not obliterate the reality of persecutions and pestilences. Before COVID-19, we had other plagues and pestilences such as Ebola, SARS, HIV-AIDS, etc. and you can rest assured that we have not seen the end of them yet. Why? Jesus said in the last days there will be famines, pestilences, wars and rumours of wars. So the question that arises is - What should we do and where do we run to? 

I was really amazed when I reread Mark 10. Jesus said that if we leave our houses, siblings, parents, relatives, spouses, land, etc for His sake, we shall receive a hundredfold and with persecutions. The prosperity gospel perpetrators will not tell their hearers that persecution is part of the Christian package. Apostle Paul made it abundantly clear that if we are going to live godly lives, we must embrace persecution. I don't know about you, but I want to live a godly life and I am fully aware that persecution will come. Hallelujah!

Now, I can tell you that at the mention of the word 'persecution', my flesh gets agitated and it starts screaming because it does not want pain or ridicule and it is at enmity with God and it can never please God (Romans 8:7-8). I have to put the flesh in its place by the power of the Holy Spirit and walk in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit involves abiding in Jesus and submitting to His will. It's God's will that must be done not ours.

We can rest assured that as long as we are walking in obedience, God will never leave us nor forsake us. He will give us strength for each day, courage to walk through the fire, and the boldness and forthrightness to proclaim the Gospel without fear.

We are encouraged by God in Scripture to keep on pressing on. The Word of God says, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 15:58). God knows everything. Whenever the pestilences and persecutions come, He will see us through and if we leave this earth we shall go to Heaven. Glory be to God.

Have a blessed day.