Nowadays one can get a good idea of what works and what doesn’t. You can even see how far the Crossroads devotionals travel on Facebook by the number of likes and shares. It’s really amazing to see how far the seed travels.

Messages of encouragement, hope and support for those who struggle are shared far and wide. Others not so far. It’s as if people don’t really want to listen. It’s better that we don’t speak about some things.

But you can’t keep quiet. You cannot retell some messages from God’s Word, but ignore others. It’s as if you’re deleting some pages in the Bible.

One such message is that hardship waits somewhere around the corner for God’s children. We don’t want to hear that. That’s why we ignore it.

So, without sugar-coating it: ³Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, just as I do (TLB). The Greek word for deprivation is kak-op-ath-eh’-o – just looking at the word shows not so nice times are on their way. The word can also be translated as hardship, to undergo hardship and to suffer trouble. The simple fact that we are called soldiers presupposes a war.

We are fortunate to live in a country where our lives are not at risk because of our faith in God. In some other countries people are being beheaded because of their faith.

We actually have quite nice and peaceful lives, but the problem is that we become blasé. We forget about the war. In a way, we fall asleep and quietly continue with our lives. We no longer stand up for what we believe in and everything is watered down. Who wants to go to war when you can bask in the sun on the beach?

Don’t crucify me for this, but I think OGOG (the organisation that wants to ban religion in schools) is not only bad. You see, suddenly Christians have to fight for their rights again. We must go and fight for our right to give our children a Christian education. Now we can dust off our Bibles and ensure that God’s Word is taught correctly.

Look at the communist countries. There was so much growth in the churches when the Christian religion was being suppressed. When war flares up, people are forced to take things seriously and they have to decide whether something is serious enough to stand up for. Are they serious enough about their faith to go to war and fight for it?

Ask yourself: Am I prepared to suffer for my faith in God? Am I prepared to die for my faith? Am I prepared for my child or my spouse to die for my faith in God?

I’m really grateful that I’m not being asked these questions now, considering the circumstances in which I live. We can all simply thank God for the huge amount of grace we receive.

However, we must never become blasé in these circumstances. Let’s be serious about our faith. Let’s prepare for war. Let’s ensure that we’re strong enough to carry our own load of suffering when it comes our way.

Scripture
2 Tim 2:1-7

Reflection
Are you in a war?
Are you preparing?
Will you make it?

Prayer
Lord, I want to be strong enough to withstand the enemy’s spiritual onslaught. Please help me not to hesitate in difficult times and to keep holding onto my faith in You. Amen.