“Remember those who are in prison…” (Hebrews 13:3)
What a blessing it was to wake up this morning as the breeze of freedom filled my bedroom. And yet in the midst of this blessing, my flesh tempts me to forget the Giver of that blessing. Too quickly I begin to think of the plans I have for the day and the remembering of those who are in prison, because of their obedient following of God, begins to slip into forgetfulness.
The beauty of suffering is lost on the saints who think God owes them ease of life. We begin to forget that that moment of suffering is light, fleeting, momentary in comparison to the weightiness of Glory.
David, King of Israel, knew it like this:
9 And my soul shall rejoice in the LORD;
It shall exult in His salvation.
10 All my bones will say, “LORD, who is like You,
Who delivers the afflicted from him who is too strong for him,
And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?”
11 Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me of things that I do not know.
12 They repay me evil for good,
To the bereavement of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled my soul with fasting,
And my prayer kept returning to my bosom.
14 I went about as though it were my friend or brother;
I bowed down mourning , as one who sorrows for a mother.
15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together;
The smiters whom I did not know gathered together against me,
They slandered me without ceasing.
16 Like godless jesters at a feast,
They gnashed at me with their teeth. (Psalms 35:9-16 NASB)
Last night, while thinking upon the kindness of God in my own life through various seasons of suffering, I was encouraged by a sermon and a song as I prayed for pastor Saeed, my children, my parents, my church, and the precious girls at New Horizon Home.
May you too, be reminded to remember the saints who are in chains.
Sermon: Do Not Lose Heart, John Piper
Song: Though You Slay Me, Shane Barnard
” Not only is all your affliction momentary, not only is all your affliction light in comparison to eternity and the glory there. But all of it is totally meaningful. Every millisecond of your pain, from the fallen nature or fallen man, every millisecond of your misery in the path of obedience is producing a peculiar glory you will get because of that.” John Piper
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