Preparing For Persecution XXII

 What Peter and John, along with those who had assembled together, prayed for is telling, if not outright revelatory. Knowing that the course you’ve set upon will likely cost you your life and continuing to tread upon it is no small feat. These people were not soldiers on some battlefield half a world away; they had families, friends, businesses, and lives, yet they counted it all as a loss for the excellence of Christ Jesus, their Lord. That is the cost of the calling to which we have been called. God demands nothing less of us than He did of the early church, and perhaps it’s because we are unwilling to pay the price that we see so little of His power and presence in today’s church. If anything in your life holds preeminence over Christ, Jesus Himself said we are not worthy of Him.

Matthew 10:37-39, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”

They knew it was only a matter of time before things escalated. They understood because of what Jesus had said that it would not stop with threats but that it would turn to violence because even though this coddled generation has come to believe that words can hurt, they don’t hurt nearly as much as being tied to a whipping post and lashed with a whip.

Jesus didn’t try to bait and switch His followers. He didn’t promise them mansions, only to be led into a dungeon. He didn’t promise them prosperity, only to be confronted with persecution. It was because He prepared them for what was to come that they did not hesitate or grow despondent. They knew what was coming; it was only a matter of when. Once they saw it clearly, they cried out to God, not that they might be spared or escape, but that they’d be given boldness in the face of certain death. All men die, but not all men die well. All men live, but not all men live lives worth living.

Acts 4:29-31, “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”

Their prayer was neither self-serving nor self-aggrandizing. They didn’t pray for money or new chariots; they didn’t even pray for their safety or protection. Their singular desire was for God to give them the boldness to speak His word and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Jesus.

They knew they were dependent upon God and could do nothing without His presence and power in their lives. They likewise knew that if they were to endure to the end, they needed boldness because it’s one thing to speak of Jesus when everyone loves you; it’s another to speak of Jesus when everyone is throwing stones at your head. That much of today’s church is unwilling to be bold for Christ when there is no threat of violence or death makes one wonder how many will do so when the cost of doing it will be their friends, families, jobs, homes, or even their lives.

It’s not as though Peter and John had not shown boldness in the face of those who threatened them, but they realized they would need more if they were to persevere and continue preaching a risen Christ. If you have no boldness, pray for it now, not when the whole world will be set on your destruction. Don’t put off praying for the things you know you will need when the time of persecution comes because the fog of war is no time to strap on your armor or learn how to use a sword.

The early church knew it was coming, and they prayed for boldness before it arrived. If you know a storm is coming, you don’t wait until it starts pouring and the thunder is rattling your windows before you start laying the sandbags down.

I live in an area that gets its fair share of snowstorms. The first thing I do before the first snowflake falls is make sure I have enough salt for the steps, and my shovel at the ready. Usually, those who wait until the last minute discover that everyone’s sold out of salt, and as far as shovels are concerned, they’re on backorder, but they can get one to you in a week’s time.

Don’t wait until the storm to figure out what you’ll need during the storm. By then, it will be too late, and you’ll be at someone else’s mercy to come and dig you out or share their salt so you don’t break a hip walking to your car.

Entreat God today for the things you will need tomorrow, whether that happens to be boldness, strength, endurance, faith, or direction. He is a good God and will answer the prayers of those who seek to do His will, who ask for things not of this earth or for this earth but for the power and gifting that can only come from His hand and will be used to further His kingdom.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.