WHAT TO DO?

Another reason for us to rejoice at suffering injustice at the hands of this fallen world is that it serves as proof positive of our faithfulness to Christ. As Jesus admonishes us in Matthew 5:11-12: “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

When it comes to our temporal sufferings for Christ’s sake in this fleeting fallen world, the Apostle Paul teaches us that they are incomparable with the eternal reward waiting on us in Heaven. In 2 Corinthians 4:17, Paul writes, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

When it comes to what Paul perceived as “light” and “momentary afflictions,” he enumerates them for us in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 (NIV).

“I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine l lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches.”

When it comes to the “exceeding and eternal weight of glory” awaiting us in Heaven, Paul describes it for us in 1 Corinthians 2:9. According to the great Apostle, no human eyes have ever seen, no human ears have ever heard, and no man could possibly imagine, even in his wildest imagination, the things that “God has prepared for them that love him.”

In light of all of this, why should we be overly concerned with a little temporal persecution in this world when we have such an unimaginable eternal reward waiting on us in Heaven? Why should we be overly concerned with a little suffering at the hands of man in the here-and-now when we shall spend the hereafter in the presence of our Savior where there are joys for evermore?