9/4/13:

TFTD: “But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinth. 12:8-10

Two Sundays ago we had a guest preacher come in for our mission Sunday and preach. He works for an LCMS organization called POBLO which stands for People Of the Book Lutheran Outreach. The mission is focused on outreach to the Muslim communities. He goes around to Lutheran churches to raise money for this organization so that they can continue their work elsewhere in the world. They have many pastors and missionaries who are spread throughout the world and more specifically in the Middle Eastern region of the country. That Sunday during Sunday school he told us a story about when he was working in Saudi Arabia. He told us that in order to worship God they had to meet privately and park blocks away and walk to the home where they were to meet because it was illegal to be a Christian. So illegal that if you were caught you would spend 10 years in prison and the pastor would be beheaded. Not so nice.

            This story, as harsh and terrible as it is, is the reality that some Christians live in. Their faith and belief is persecuted and tried daily. They are in the business of God in some of the most dangerous parts of the world. But how does this relate to us? When we are at school or in the work place and are being ridiculed, regardless of what for, that is when we can boast in Christ the most. He gives us the strength to persevere and the grace for when we mess up. When we don’t have the skills to do what is necessary, that is when God shines through. He equips us and leads us in ways that we never thought possible. In our weakness, that is when God shines the strongest.

“The Lord gets His best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction.” –Charles Haddon Spurgeon