John 12:9-11 Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.
10 But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;
11 Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.
When it comes to the world, nothing is sacred. Satan and his leaders of darkness must not only try and destroy Jesus; they must also try to destroy His Works so they can discredit Him. We are some of His Works. The testimonies we live, the messages of Christ we proclaim are part of His Works. Like Lazarus, satan must put our messages to death, he wants to discredit Christ by discrediting us.
If we think we can go through this world living for Christ and not endure struggles, we are sadly mistaken and ill prepared for service to Him. On the other hand, if we are not enduring struggles and suffering, we have to ask ourselves why? Are we serving the risen Savior, or are we just sheep without a voice? Are we so unimportant to Christ that satan just doesn’t bother with us? When you think about it, that could be a very shaming statement about our ineffective service for Him, if satan doesn’t even deem us threat enough to attack us.
Someone once said that Christians love to suffer. The idea he was conveying was, we hang our heads and cry out ‘woe is me, look at what I must go through;’ languishing in our supposed dedication to Christ, but not really serving Him. The person was referring to those that gather together, but do not effectively proclaim Christ; they just comfort each other and reinforce each other’s misery. There is no joy in their suffering, because they would rather complain and make themselves martyrs (so they think) than actually doing God’s Work. And many of us are good enough at self-pity that we don’t even need confirmation from someone else.
If we accept that serving Christ is both an honor and an open invitation for satan to attack us, we will be less likely to cringe away from service when satan does attack. In WW 2 a soldier was once hunkered down in his fox hole while shells and bullets whizzed by him. He couldn’t bring himself to raise up high enough to look over the top of the hole and fire on the attacking enemy. An officer, checking on his troops came by and observed the inaction of the soldier and climbed into the fox hole with him. The soldier was shaking with fear and told the officer he couldn’t fire, he was too scared. The officer told him that ‘we are all scared. The thing is, you believe you are going to make it out of here alive. If you reconcile yourself to the fact you are already dead, then you can overcome your fear and fight.’ After consideration, the soldier looked out over the top of his hole and started firing his weapon.
Jesus told us the very same thing: verses 24-26 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
We shouldn’t serve Christ so we can ‘suffer’ or become martyrs. We should serve Christ because, as His followers He commands it, we love Him and we want to obey Him. The slings of satan can be very painful and they can be difficult for us to endure. However, when we realize that it comes with the service than we are more able to be effective and instead of bemoaning the fact satan attacks us, we can rejoice in the fact that we are being effective enough for Christ that satan is afraid of us.
It isn’t the fact we are suffering that should be important – we have all seen the Christian that staggers in what he feels is attacks on him because he had stood out for Christ, when his message to people isn’t as a follower of Christ, but as someone who has become self-righteous and ineffective in his message. He speaks out, not for Christ sake, but for the suffering he says he is enduring; he broadcasts it so he can gain pats on the back and thus have self-gratification as he wallows in self-pity. These people are no better than the person who does good deeds and then makes sure everyone knows about it – both have their immediate reward. But Christ is not in their message.
Effective Christians endure severe sufferings and never or rarely mention it. They are focused on service to others in Christ’s name, not on their own discomfort in that service. There is joy in their hearts which comes out in not only their service, but their demeanor. If they mention their struggles at all it is to encourage others to break through to victory and not to obtain sympathy. They want to forewarn so their listeners are prepared, but they do not hold themselves up as some kind of martyr to be honored. They will ask for prayers, but not belabor their suffering; they want to be able to continue serving Christ effectively. God doesn’t need whiners or complainers; He does need Christians He can depend on to do His Will no matter the consequences. May we rejoice, always, in our service to Christ and focus only on Him, not on ourselves.
From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
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