Facing Fear
As I write this, I think of my wife who is in the bedroom enduring an episode of serious pain. Unlike her, I do not endure pain with much other than constant complaints. While I want to be a man, I find my wife is a much better example of strength through pain than I could hope to be. When the woke-boots come to persecute believers, she will be the one left standing in our family.
This opens the question of the ability of God’s people to withstand physical pain inflicted by persecutors throughout Christian history intent on breaking the will and destroying the faith of the redeemed. I remember a few years ago discussing this in one of our classes and I noticed several horrified looks when explaining how faith enables one to endure watching one’s children killed before their eyes because the parents would not deny Christ. This is not hypothetical speech because it is both historic and contemporary as believers across the world experience it in countries without religious freedom in general, and certainly none for Christians in particular.
Enduring persecution works in much the same way as enduring death and threats of it. We cannot latch onto the fortitude of faith needed just yet because we do not experience it. This changes when the prospect is immediately in front of us. God’s grace will envelope us in that moment to see beyond the immediate to the blest future that lies beyond.
In Hebrews 11, the author speaks of faith that was strong enough to endure every trial the subjects faced. When nearing the conclusion of his examples, the author gives a brief summation of many others not mentioned by name. He wrote, “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented…” (Hebrews 11:37). This verse has always struck me as beyond imaginable. In fact, it is. I do not believe Hebrews 11 was written to applaud the intestinal fortitude of those willing to die for Christ. Unfortunately, chapter breaks often divide the text with unkind separation from the author’s main purpose. Chapter 12 drives the point home as it identifies the source of uncommon faith. The one to applaud is Jesus Christ who is the author and finisher of this great faith (12:2).
What makes uncommon faith? Though addressing a different subject, Paul gives an applicable assessment of our thought as well. In 1 Corinthians 4:7, “For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” Christ is the author of every gift. Another word of encouragement comes to mind. Jesus knew the trials the apostles would face because of their faith. He told them, “Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do… (Luke 12:4). “And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.” (vv. 11-12).
The answer to this dilemma is the power of the Spirit of Christ who indwells every believer. He gives strength in the hour of trial that is beyond what the human will can conceive. If He gives enough strength to face a torturous death, what is to fear of a doctor’s operation when after that (sic), there is much more he can do. The Holy Spirit supplies doctors and nurses and medications and care that help soothe the pain. Progress in medicine is another enabling by God’s good graces. For the unsaved, it is born in God’s common grace. For you and I who know Him, it is appreciated more as it is accompanied by assurance that Christ is our Great Physician.
Pastor V. Mark Smith