As I set at the computer editing this
month’s newsletter, snow is once again falling out my office window. And it is
very tempting to ask, “How long will this snow last, Oh Lord?” But then that
would be an almost blasphemous question, at least in my spiritual life. Because
whenever I have felt like complaining about anything that is irritating me
these last few days, snow, ice, stuck cars, livestock needing extra care, the
picture of twenty one brother Christians
kneeling on a beach about to be beheaded for believing in Christ, flashes in my
head.
This is the ultimate picture of the
ultimate sacrifice for our Savior. Never giving in, never denying Him, no
matter the cost. What a strong, stirring portrait of faith that image is. As
horrible as the picture is, it should be a rallying point to all of us in
America who think tribulation and persecution is having a hard time parking in
the church parking lot because the snow isn’t completely removed.
God has been pointing me to the verses in
Revelation that should be attached to this picture of the kneeling Christians.
Read them and think about what it says. And then cry out to the Lord to return
soon. God bless and keep each of you, and God bless our brothers and sisters in
harm’s way!
And when he had opened
the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the
word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O
Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that
dwell on the earth?
And white robes were given
unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet
for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that
should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
Revelation
6:9-11
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