Little Chats With God

Posts Tagged ‘persecution’

“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?” Jeremiah 12:5Jeremiah 12:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? and though in a land of peace you are secure, yet how will you do in the pride of the Jordan?

WP-Bible plugin (NIV)

It’s been one of those days, Lord: just one problem after another. A government department giving us the run around, a bill that was considerably more than expected, people who haven’t done what they were supposed to – You know the sort of thing, Lord. It’s frustrating. It’s tiring. It’s draining. And sometimes I just wish they’d all go away and annoy each other, instead of annoying me.

Maybe I’m just getting crotchety as I get older, Lord. I never did suffer fools gladly, but now I’d prefer not to suffer them at all. Why is it that sometimes life feels like swimming through treacle?

Then, Lord, I read about some of Your people who live in countries where they are persecuted for their faith. Ones who have been thrown in jail for many years just for believing in You. Ones who have had their homes and churches burned. Ones who have been tortured and even killed just because they were Christians.

These aren’t the saints of old who lived in the days of the Roman persecution. They are people living today. Some of them are younger than my kids. Some are even as young as my grandkids. They endure incredible pain, suffering and degradation because of their faith in You.

Yet here am I grizzling about government red tape and human inefficiency. My problems are minuscule compared with theirs. It’s just like You said to Jeremiah, Lord – it’s like I’m competing against men on foot, and they are wearing me out, but I should be able to run against horses.

But right now, Lord, forget the horses. For today, just give me the strength to keep in front of the blokes on foot!