Worthy to Suffer
by Jim Person
I recently found myself remembering a time when my wife and I obeyed the Lord and did what He had told us to do. Afterwards, we received persecution. When this was happening, we suffered through it silently, committing it to God, but not understanding why we had to go through all this pain and suffering.
Another time, as we obeyed the Lord to bring godly order to a situation which was not being done in a way that glorified God, we received an even bigger persecution, which really hurt us. I again didn’t understand why the Lord would allow this to happen to us, and I never even thought about today’s verse during the years we walked through the ramifications of having to walk away from the work we were doing in that place.
Years later, the Lord showed us the reason for our suffering. At the time we were bringing His grace and mercy to some people from a different country, and they were totally able to identify with the pain we had gone through, because they had also walked through serious rejection as believers.
I remember being in awe as I began to realise the bigger plan God had. That He wanted to include us in it amazed me.
My fellow disciples, if you are facing a hardship that you don’t understand, because you are obeying what the Lord has told you to do, remember this verse, ‘The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus’ (Acts 5:41). Remember it during your journey through the suffering, and rejoice. The Lord has counted you worthy to join Him in His plans.
Jim Person Jim grew up in Alaska and from a small child commercial fished every summer with his family. God called him, his wife Tanya, and their four children to move to Hungary as missionaries in 2003. God then led him to join Ellel Ministries in 2005. After serving in various positions with Ellel in Central and Eastern Europe, God led them back to the United States, where he is now serving with the Ellel USA team. Jim and Tanya have a passion to see leaders restored, the church discipled and walking in God’s fullness of life and freedom. They also love mentoring the existing and developing Ellel teams wherever God leads them. Jim also has a real gift for working with the land to create a beautiful and welcoming environment.
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