Persecution

​Mahesh and Seetha Gopal* were raised in Hindu families.  They married and operated a successful business but their lives were unfulfilled until they met Christ.  When they chose to follow Jesus they encountered much persecution from their relatives and countrymen.  Eventually, they moved away to Wayanad, a city in the hill country of northern Kerala. They bought a piece of land and built a house.  Seetha asked her new neighbors if she could draw water until they could afford to dig their own well.  But they refused to share with her because she and her husband were Christians.  So, everyday, the Gopals had to walk two miles just to get their water.

The time finally came when they could afford to dig their own well.  Amazingly, they did not have to tunnel very deep before striking a spring; their water literally gushed forth!    But shortly after they obtained water, Wayanad went through a long drought and the neighbors wells dried up.  The only water to be found in their village now belonged to them.    Mahesh and Seetha graciously shared with all of their neighbors the water God provided. They ministered kindness to the very people who mistreated them.  Today, their well continuously springs up giving ample testimony to the Living Water, the One who saw their predicament and graciously responded.  
 
Meditation
1 Thessalonians 3:4-- In fact, when we were with you, we told you previously that we were going to suffer persecution, and as you know, it happened.
 
The reason we fear persecution is we set our eyes on what we desire instead of what God desires.  We embrace power because vulnerability entails sacrifice.  We love praise because it puffs what insults pummel—our pride.  We opt for the easy way because a hard ship means a stormy passage.  But how can God work through us when we are strong and scarcely think we need Him?  It was in the training camp of persecution that the Apostle Paul grew mightily.  He apprehended that weakness forced Him to rely on God and therefore made him strong.  May it be so with us.
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Our Father knows how much we can take but how much of our Father will we take?  Often what makes our light shine brightest to a skeptical world is our willingness to endure persecution for the sake of the gospel. It is through trials that people best observe the genuineness of our faith.   And it is through trials that God deepens our dependence upon Him!  So don’t be afraid of the plight.  The same One who bubbles the water in Wayanad through the well of His persecuted children, wants to bubble His love through you!   
 
Inspiration
People are not persecuted for living holy lives; it is the confession of Jesus that brings the persecution.—Oswald Chambers inApproved Unto God
 
*Not their true names, the story however is real.  
 
©2005 Daniel York  ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)