This past weekend, I had the privilege of sharing the gospel with the people of Rwanda through a local radio station. Little did I know the station reached THREE different African countries (Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and over 1 MILLION listeners! Here is what I shared with them:
When I was little, my mom would help my brother and I memorize Bible verses. Sometimes they were common like John 3:16 that says “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” and other times they were a bit more difficult. I remember her trying to teach us,
1 Peter 5:8-9 bn “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.”
Back then, I didn’t fully understand the weight of this verse. I just pictured a lion running through the streets attacking people who were Christians. But as I have gotten older, the power that Satan has over this world has become abundantly clear to me. Throughout the world, people who believe in this man called Jesus are being killed for their faith. Churches are being bombed or shut down, Bibles are illegal to own, and wars are taking place. The enemy is truly living up to his calling of stealing, killing, and destroying.
Yet, even with all of this destruction taking place and the world becoming darker each day, there is still Someone even greater and more powerful than the “great enemy”. God, the creator of the universe and Author of all mankind is All-Powerful and All-knowing. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. This God I speak of is sovereign over all that happens, even as the devil prowls around.
Sometimes God allows bad things to happen in our lives so that we can grow our faith in Him and persevere.
Perseverance was never a word I used to describe my life or my faith. It did, however, remind me of running a race. Once you have run so far, you hit a point where you don’t think you can go any farther. It is at that point when you need to persevere and push through the pain racing through your legs and lungs. Yet, as I looked deeper into the definition of the word “Perseverance” (which means: persistence and doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success) I realized that my life and faith are completely based off of perseverance. There always seems to be something blocking me from my goal of growing closer to God and in order to overcome these obstacles, I need to persevere.
Back in the day, there was a young man named Daniel whose faith in God was steadfast. He devoted his entire life to please the Lord and worked hard to be a good man. Daniel was one of three administrators (kind of like government officials) over King Darius’s kingdom. One day the other two administrators became jealous of a promotion Daniel was about to receive. They decided to look for a way to get him killed. But because he was a man of God, they couldn’t find any fault against him. They decided the only way to get rid of Daniel was to make a law against his religion, so they went to the King and asked him to prevent the kingdom from praying to any god for 30 days. If one of the people were to go against this law, they were to be thrown into a lion’s den and be eaten alive. When Daniel heard this, he immediately went home and prayed to God for help just as he always did. However, the two administrators found him and reported him to the King. King Darius had no choice but to throw him into the den and let him die for his illegal behavior. However, God sent an angel into the den with Daniel to shut the mouths of the lions so that no harm came to him.
See, Daniel had faith that God was in control and he chose to lean into Him even though there was something blocking his path. Daniel persevered even in with potential death awaiting him.
During these evil days, many people picture God as a God who has separated Himself from us and our struggles. But this image of God as detached from this world and its issues couldn’t be further from the truth. God has always been a God among us. When Daniel was sealed into a den filled with ferocious and hungry lions, God was with him, sending an angel to protect him from certain death. The same is for you and your current circumstances. God is not somewhere else, God is here, now, in this place, at this time. Just as God was among Daniel in the lion’s den- He is among us today.
God will never fail you or abandon you, He is your protector and friend, He wants the best for you, even if you must face trials in order to get to it. I encourage you to keep fighting the good fight and to lean into God during these tough times. God is always here for you and wants to help you through the lion’s den, all you have to do is have faith and persevere.
God Always seems to amaze me with how He chooses to use this vessel of mine. He is such a good good Father.
