Are you being persecuted for your faith? Have you been persecuted in the past? Do you know someone who is or was persecuted? Are there people who seek your downfall? Are you facing an uphill battle to recover from a bad situation? Who have you turned to for help?
Many of us have faced persecution of one type or another during our lives. We may have been excluded from gatherings and felt jilted. We may have been laughed at for refusing to go along with a cruel joke. We may have been the target of physical or verbal abuse.
When the persecution occurs, it can be challenging to hold on to our faith. Depending on the intensity of it, we may be ready to give up and give in to the temptation to join our persecutors. It is in those moments of trial and possibly weakness that we need to remember to hold on to our faith.
Standing for what is right in the face of opposition is difficult. We cannot do it alone. The good news is we don’t have to. We can turn to God. We can ask him to rescue us from the situation. We can ask him to show us the way through it. We can ask him to strengthen us and give us the courage we need to face it.
The Psalmist asks God to rescue him from the wicked, those who are unjust and cruel. He states plainly that God is his hope, and he trusts God. It is amazing how much saying those words can fortify us. Repeating those words again and again can give us the strength to go on when we are ready to give up. We should remind ourselves every day that God is our hope.
I pray we all call on God when we are being persecuted. I pray we seek to build our relationship before persecution occurs. I pray each one of us are reminded daily of our hope in God. Call on God. Spend time in prayer. Ask God for strength. Know that God is your hope. Trust in him.
Psalm 71:4-5
Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
Marty Pressey 