"10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matt 5:10-12)
I couldn't understand why I was struggling yesterday to release something. Then God brought the Beatitudes to my brain this morning. I began to read them and that's when I saw the word persecution. God began to tell me that persecution is two-fold. There is persecution because you are a follower of Christ and persecution because you are doing your own thing.
Let's take the first one - persecution because you are a follower of Christ. This is the persecution explained above. You are doing what He calls you to do and you can't understand why people hate you. I remember a time, when this was my everyday life. I had someone that didn't like me, didn't understand me and because of that, we bumped heads constantly. She didn't understand my movement. She couldn't understand why I wasn't part of the group, why I had to do my own thing. She never understood that our spirits were different. While, I tried to explain, the concept was foreign to her. Did I hold it against her? No. It wasn't for me to judge her life. My only job was to be me. I got fired from this job because of this. It hurt - oh it hurt. But, in the end, God moved me to the best job I've had yet - with the company I'm with now.
What I realized was that it wasn't me. I wasn't the issue. Her spirit and mine didn't gel. Still, not my issue. When you have the spirit of God on the inside, some people just won't like or understand you. They may try, but your moves, ways, words, works, will be foreign to them. Not because you are trying to be difficult, but because you are different from their norm. Its easy to say that they should try to see you for who you are. But, not all people will do that. Many will buck against the spirit within you. Here's your part in it - don't buck against them. Let them be them. God will handle the rest.
If God was persecuted for us, don't you know you will be persecuted because you love Him and follow His ways? It's part of your walk. Please believe that it's normal. Understand that the unblemished lamb was slaughtered for us. So, what's our part? Simple, keep loving Him. Keep focused on Him and what He says and what He wants you to do. Love your neighbors even when they hate you. Why? It's not about you. Yep, just that simple. What it takes of you is to see that you are not the central character in this drama. The forces of good and evil are fighting. The angels of each dominion are fighting over territory - mankind. It's up to you to decide whose side you want to be on. "Choose ye this day.....". (Joshua 24:15)
Be A Blessing and Not Just Blessed
- Nakya