Facing Difficulty

Memorize: Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Luke 24:5,6

Joseph              Jesus

Genesis 37:4,5             John 15:18-24

Similarities and differences?

If you know that you’re going to face a difficult situation, it’s helpful to have some idea in advance of what you’ll be in for. I’ve told you before about a funny event that happened when I was in Coast Guard boot camp. A guy showed up for boot camp with his water skis and fishing pole because a recruiter had told him that boot camp was on an island (true) and that you could water ski and fish in the estuary surrounding the island (true, if “you” is understood to mean, “a person technically could do those things”). But if “you” meant “you personally,” it was about the furthest thing imaginable from the truth!

The recruiter conveniently failed to tell this naïve recruit that the first day of boot camp, they issued your uniform and made you ship home all of your civilian clothes, including your underwear, along with your comb, shampoo, and all toiletries, except for a razor and shaving cream. You wouldn’t need your comb and shampoo after they gave you the boot camp haircut, which came next, because you would have no hair! Also, they controlled your life all day and all night. If they wanted to wake up everyone at 2 a.m. and have you march or stand in formation in the cold, they could do that. For the next nine weeks, you were not in control of your life—they were! If that recruit had been told anything close to the truth, he might not have signed up. (I joined because it was better than being drafted and sent to Viet Nam.) But for sure, he wouldn’t have shown up with his water skis and fishing pole!

The problem is, some Christian “recruiters” (also called, “evangelists”) entice you to sign up by describing all the wonderful benefits that you’re going to receive: “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life!” That sounds pretty good! And, Jesus promises an abundant life to all who follow Him! “Yeah, I could use more abundance in my life!” And so you sign up for the program, not realizing that while there are many benefits in following Jesus, there are also many trials and persecutions (Mark 10:28-30).

Jesus knew that after He left the disciples to return to heaven, they would face some difficult opposition from the world. Maybe, because He had just told them that they would do even “greater works” than He did (John 14:12), they were envisioning receptive crowds and smooth sailing ahead. But the reality was, they would face some severe persecution, not just from the pagan world, but also from the religious crowd. The Lord wanted them to know what to expect from the world and how to respond to the hostility that they would experience. His message is:

While the world hates believers, we should testify to the world of the truth about Jesus Christ.

https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-83-what-expect-world-john-1518-27  Author: Steven J. Cole served as the pastor of Flagstaff Christian Fellowship from May1992 through his retirement in December 2018.