To hear this Morning Devotion, please click When faith and fairness clash
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“Let me get this straight.
“You explained to a demon-possessed woman how she could be set free from her spiritual bondage and return to a normal life.
“You did so because you love to help people.
“Yet you were arrested, stripped and beaten by an angry mob.
“Then you were flogged with whips that tore the flesh on your back.
“After that, you were thrown into a prison cell where your feet were placed into wooden stocks to keep you from moving around.
“And then you started singing hymns of praise to God? Are you kidding me?
“What? You actually focused on praying up to God rather than focusing on paying back those who caused your suffering?
“You must be some faith freak or something. A lot of good your faith did for you — causing you all sorts of hassles.”
“Yeah, you ended up teaching and baptizing the jailer and his family. But what you went through wasn’t fair!”
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The above hypothetical statements occurred to me this morning while reading from Acts 16 in the One-Year Bible. I imagined myself talking with the Apostle Paul after he and Silas had left Philippi and shared their experiences with me.
I strongly encourage you to read Acts 16 in the daily reading segment posted on the right side of this page.
The words in that passage will help you, as they did me, to place faith-related struggles in the proper context.
Whatever hassles we face because we are helping others spiritually is less than what has been faced by those who went before us.
That means that we can make it through tough times just as they made it through tough times.
No amount of prospective or actual hassle should prevent us from trying to help people toward life in Christ.
Please ask God to reveal those in your circle of influence who are still gripped by sin’s tentacles.
And please ask God for the boldness and endurance to overcome the hassles from relatives, co-workers, disgruntled customers or even public officials who don’t like your efforts to turn people from darkness to the Light.
It won’t be fair that you are mistreated for doing the faith thing.
But, of course, it wasn’t fair that Jesus was mistreated because of my sins and yours.
Because He was treated unfairly for our sake, we are to accept unfair treatment for others’ sake.
It’s the faithful thing to do.
As always, I love you
Martin
