God's Prerogative

Psalm 109:28 NIV

While they curse, may you bless; may those who attack me be put to shame, but may your servant rejoice.

Life is a battlefield. When people share their bitter experiences, we usually respond with the well-worn phrase: 'Such is Life'. There's a cycle of ups and downs in life; joys and pain, disappointments and appointments. No one is exempt; it is not a matter of faith, it is more of a matter of growth. I just think God, in his infinite wisdom, allows us to truly grow and depend on him through our experiences. I have seen the best of Christians go through hell on earth with hearts of joy, and I have also seen a few who became discouraged and despondent and turned back into apostasy. What then is God trying to say?
I believe that while we are in this world, we will need to fight. A lot of people were told that in Christ, all struggles cease but the reality of the Christian faith is much deeper than that. Christ promised us a yoke that he also will help us carry. While the world seems to be a care-free journey to nowhere, we as Christians are expected to buckle down and endure all the experiences that will come our way. We are to bear the cross without sighing so that at the end of our journey on earth, we will wear the crown. As we live from day to day then, what is expected of us? Men abuse what they do not understand, and they will abuse us when we take a stand that looks 'foolish' in the light of the realities that surround us. When we stand for truth in the light of crass falsehood, people who don't understand the principles guiding our stand take offence. But there's something God assures in he passage above: he will bless, regardless of what people do or say. He is God, the One who's able to take clay and make the most fitting and extraordinary of vessels with it. No wonder then, that with all the persecution, abuse and oppression of followers of Christ, people keep believing and holding on. There must be something or someone powerful that sustains a faith in the face of opposition.
As we walk this walk and run this race, let us constantly remember that God is fully in charge of our lives and he alone can sustain what he has ordained. This faith is worth dying for because its rewards and blessings far outweigh its challenges and stresses. Hold on to God. His time of favour is here.