Joy in Persecution

This is something that's pretty hard to get, even for Christians. I'm pretty sure when Jesus said "Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you," He made heads turn and shoulders shrug. However, this is something I finally learned in the past year and something I now truly appreciate.

First thing's first, persecution is NEVER easy nor is it ever fun. Duh. I think that's pretty obvious. And mind you, persecution today can be as light as people mocking you to people physically torturing you. Thank God I haven't experienced the physical yet.

But why is it that we should be HAPPY during persecution? Isn't it obvious we're not supposed to be HAPPY when people are hurting us? I mean, who's happy when they're hurting?

I learned that we need to realize that in fact, when being persecuted, God has found us worthy to be persecuted. Moreover, the Devil has found us a threat, someone to be reckoned with, and is scared, which is why he persecutes us. He's angry at us and that's something we should be awfully happy about! During a time when I was being persecuted, my leaders congratulated me. They said, "You're a certified Christian!"

And now, the year hasn't even ended yet and we in CRUX, the youth group, are already experiencing hard times and persecution. And you know what? I'm VERY EXCITED and HAPPY. Why? The very fact persecution is coming before 2010 means that God has something BIG planned for us and the devil is doing his very best to keep us away from it. By faith, I believe God is gearing us up to reach our 100 mark by 2011!

So are you experiencing persecution? SOmeone mocking you and giving you a hard time?

Rejoice! God has found you worthy and Satan isn't happy with you... and he shouldn't be!