BUCK UP, CHRISTIAN!

Conservative Christian leaders and pastors are warning of hard times ahead. John MacArthur told his congregation last Sunday (Jan. 17), in reviewing God’s grace in the amazing achievements of his church through the challenges of 2020, “We don’t win down here.” Author Rod Dreher said, “Jesus Christ promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church, but he did not promise that hell would not prevail against his church in the West” (The Benedict Option).  A chilling thought indeed as ill winds blow in America.

The ever-optimistic Apostle Paul, whose back bore the tracks of his hard times, who endured injustice second only to our Savior Himself, would tell us to buck up. God’s grace shines brightest in such times. A child of God senses the Father’s presence most profoundly in adversity. I can see it in the posts of Christian friends. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen more scripture quoted or more biblical allusions among my FB friends than I have in recent weeks, and that is a good thing. I can see it in our church family—the cultural foreboding and the absence of fellowship caused by the virus lockdowns has made us all appreciate one another so much more as we devise new ways to love and serve one another. I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God in these sanctifying trials.

We struggle with political defeat as starkly contradictory anti-Christian executive orders issue forth from a new president who touts his piety, but God did not put us here to fight political wars. Our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, wherever He sovereignly places us, and that cannot happen in hard times by human striving. You must be wrought upon by the Holy Spirit to exude joy in the Lord in the midst of trials. There is no better witness. There’s laid up for you a “…treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20-21).

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

See you in church.

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