Boldness in Suffering

Bo1 Thessalonians 2:1-2

“For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain.  But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.”

I believe two things happen to most of us when we come to a passage like the one above; first, we may be ignorant of what Paul is referring to, and second, we may not be able to assimilate the information into our culture.  The ignorant part of the equation is easily dealt with if a person desires understanding by getting a good reference Bible and asking the Holy Spirit to give you understanding of the passage.  The second part is not that easy, it will require you to stop what you are doing, to be still and ask God to reveal how this passage is playing out in your life or those who you come in contact with.

In the verses above you can go to Acts 16:6-40 and come away with an understanding of what Paul and Silas were experiencing in Philippi.  I found it of interest that Paul had a vision to go to Macedonia to share the gospel, and because he was faithful to obey that call he experienced some shameful treatment and at the same time a new church was born.  That flies in the face of many of the teachings of the TV preachers of our day.  I do understand that many in today’s church have no desire to identify with Christ in His suffering, but that is what our Lord said we must do.  Could our lack of power in the Church equate to our misunderstanding of Matthew 16:25, and the promised life Christ is offering?

In 2011, in your job, in your community and sadly even in your family and Church, you may suffer for doing good, it is almost guaranteed, you will pay for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.  People may make fun of you, it may cost you some so called friends, it may cost you a promotion at work, but today you will not be publicly beaten as was Paul and Silas.  If we come to an understanding of Matthew 16:25, we will join Paul and Silas in song and praise to our God, that He has found us worthy to suffer.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice