They cut off John the Baptist’s head and served it on a platter. What a gruesome thought! John, the one Jesus proclaimed as greater than everyone else. It seems that most of the key players in the Bible faced martyrdom or severe persecution. We love the stories of Moses, Joshua, Daniel, and David. We love to hear about Jesus’ miracles, and even His tortuous death is softened in our minds by the Resurrection. But what about every apostle that was martyred? Tradition holds persecutors boiled John in oil and exiled him to a deserted island. What about the prophets? One was sawed in half! Seemingly, in many cases, God does not intervene in the deaths and sufferings of his saints, especially if it is for the sake of the gospel. Does this bother you?
And what about those comforting words in the Psalms regarding God being our rock, fortress, and deliverer? Physical deliverance may not always come, but God meets us in an inward place that cannot be touched by the wicked. This is the place where God’s Spirit communes with our spirit.
People speak of dying grace. Is this a real
thing? I think so. What was John’s last hours like? Did an angel appear to him
and offer comfort and assurance? Being filled with the Spirit, maybe the Spirit
filled him with unexplainable peace? Did the heavens open like with Stephen? I
do not know. But I have walked to the edge of death with both of my parents,
and God was there. I have experienced the fear that comes with a cancer
diagnosis. God was there. He never promises tough times will not come, but he
never leaves us.
Isaiah
43:1-2, “But now
thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be
with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.’”
Here is an interesting article regarding God equipping people for suffering:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/god-equips-martyrs/
An excerpt: “Suffering times are times when the Lord is pleased to give his people some sense of his favor. When they are in sufferings for righteousness’s sake, for the gospel’s sake, then usually God causes his face to shine upon them. Now they shall hear best news from heaven when they hear worst from earth…It was God’s lifting up the light of his countenance that made the martyrs to sing in the fire, to clap their hands in the flames, and to tread upon hot burning coals as upon beds of roses. This made Vincentius say, when he felt the flame come to his beard, ‘What a small pain is this, compared to the glory to come? What is a drop of vinegar put into an ocean of wine? What is it for one to have a rainy day, that is going to take possession of a kingdom?’…For the confirmation of some, for the conversion of others, and for the greater conviction and confusion of their adversaries, who wonder, and are like men amazed, when they see the comfort and the courage of the saints in times of suffering…For the praise of his own grace, and for the glory of his own name. God would lose much of his own glory, if he did not stand by his people, and comfort them and strengthen them, in the day of their sorrows. It makes much for the glory of God, that his people are cheered and comforted, quickened, and raised, spiritualized and elevated in the day of their sufferings. Oh, the sight of so noble a spirit in the saints, causes others to admire God, to lift up God, to fall in love with God, and to glorify God, for owning his people, and for being a light to them in darkness, a joy to them in sorrow, and a palace to them in prison.” This author goes on to give examples of those who rejoiced in suffering.
This world can discourage and frighten us if we gaze on it too much. Focus on Jesus! Remember how He has helped those who have faced frightening things. He says, “Do not be afraid!” We do not have the big picture. He’s got this!
joyce hague
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