More than Conquerors!

I have been spending a great deal of my devotional time reading the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Israel did not believe the warnings of destruction from these prophets if they did not turn from their sin and turn back to God. They believed that God would never destroy Jerusalem or the temple. They found out that you can't hide unholy living behind holy things. God will bring judgment upon ungodliness. Even so, not all destruction that God's people face is on account of sin.

God's people will face suffering and tribulation even when they are being faithful to the Lord. Examples of this type of suffering are numerous throughout the Bible. One in particular has caught my attention. It is the innocent suffering of Israel from Psalm 44.

In this psalm, the author writes about suffering even though they were faithful to the Lord, "All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant" (Psalm 44:17). They were trying to make sense of their suffering. It is one thing to suffer because of sin, but to suffer when God's people are being faithful!

Like most of us, they respond questioning God, "Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?" These words are illustrated in the New Testament when the disciples and Jesus encounter a storm at sea, and Jesus is asleep. The disciples cry out, "Lord, don't you care that we are perishing?"

The reality of walking with Jesus is that we will suffer because we walk with Jesus. We will suffer for being faithful. It is interesting that the apostle Paul quotes Psalm 44:22 in Romans 8:36, "As it is written, 'For your sake, we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." What is encouraging is what Paul says in verse 37, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors."

God's people will suffer even when faithful to God because we live in a world that hates God.

Be encouraged! The suffering we face this side of heaven won't compare to our future glory.