Suffering While Having Faith

It is my plea that in this instructional lesson this morning that it will comfort us, even in the mist of the adversary that is trying to conquer us.”

As we visit this text this morning, we will see that the Jews to whom this book of Hebrews were speaking of, were experiencing much misfortune and persecution because of their discontinuity of Judaism.

And what’s so disturbing about their conditions was that their persecution, their harassment and their maltreatment is that it was coming from their so call friends, relatives and neighbors of the Jewish culture, who were upset with them for disowning the religious customs and traditions in which they had been taught about for all of their lives.

As we read the history of their abuse, we are retold about their past days of conflict and sufferings, which they are talking about right here in Hebrews 10:32-33 which says “But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used”. My first points is that in this walk with the Lord we to could be a part of great suffering, agony and pain.

Because even when looking at this, I believe that the unbelieving Jews, who were involved with the church suffered, just because of their association with Christians.

And I can just only imagine the arguments they heard for disallowing the old faith and converting to the new faith. I imagine the conversations that were going on that could have went something like this. Now look at you, look at what you have gotten yourselves into. Look at what you have becaome. You have become Christians and all you have had are problems after problems, you are being criticized, analyzed, ostracized, hated, detested and you have become unpopular. Look at you now, now you are encountering hardship, and suffering. Your family members don’t own you, you have have lost your friends, your place to worship, people are talking about you behind your backs. In fact, you have lost everything look you now.

And what I have found out is there are times when you try to share with people that now that you have found Christ in your life as your personal Savior, but yet others only see that you are going through, or that you are always in a storm with what seems like all of the time. It seems like on every hand and on every turn you are running into a storm. It appears as though, every time that people see you, you are asking for them to pray for you, because you are going through. It seems as though you

are in every pray line, on every pray call, always crying in the midnight, always on a fast, walking slow, with your head low, it seems as though you are going through.

That being said, can I just drop this in your spirit? Can I just share with you that it’s ok to go through? Because there are times when you are going through, that the Lord will allow some storms to come our way? Let me call a witness to the stand.

You all remember the man of God name Job don’t you? Do you remember how God pointed out Job for the challenges of His faith by Satan? Figuratively speaking, it seems like the Lord put His hand on Job. And can I tell you that God has no respect of persons, what I means is that while you are going through your trials and tribulations, if God will look out for Job, then you have to know that God can look out for you.

The issue that I ran across in this scriptural neighborhood, is that some of believers were probably wondering, if their God was a God of power and of peace, why are they were suffering so much. The enemy was probably asking if the Lord fights your battles then, why are we not winning out over our enemies, instead it seems like the enemy always to have the upper hand? Where is the God who is supposed to supply all of our needs and give us the answers to our questions? Where is the God who is supposed to place fulfillment into our lives? Why is it that when we turned to a God of love, why did everyone start hating us, disliking us and mistreating us?

The last section of chapter 11 it begins to answer questions like these and also provides a foundation of counseling for those who are suffering in chapter 12:4-11. Because what I have learned is that suffering for God’s sake was nothing new. The saints of the Old Covenant had known what it was to suffer for their faith. They were faced with warfare, weakness, torture, being beating, imprisonment, stoning, destitution, and every sort of affliction known onto mankind—all because of their trusting in the Lord (11:34-38).