It takes resilience and faith to survive in the world. Standing for the truth will always call for oppositions. Our survival lies only in God. We shall finally rest from all tribulations when we return to God, our Source. In John’s vision as recorded in the book or Revelation, one of the elders told him concerning the multitudes who dressed in white before the throne of God, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev 7:9) They took on the life of Jesus; they shared in his cross and now in his resurrection.
Oftentimes, people antagonise us not because of who we are, but because of the message we carry and the purpose we have come to fulfil. We realized that it is not they who attack us, but the evil one who prompts them to be against us. People stand against the truth because of their ignorance. They fight with conviction but blindly. Jesus often asked, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me? The Jews answered him, we stone you for no good work but for blasphemy” John 10:32-33.
Moreover, one would expect that after the conversion of Saul, the Church would finally be at rest. He was the persecutor later became the persecuted. “And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.” Acts 13:14, 43b-52
Above all, Jesus assures us, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” John 10:27-30
Let us fix our gaze on God. He will never desert us. He is with us in times of tribulations helping us to sail through. Amen.
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