But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. Exodus 1:12
An organization called Open Doors World Watch List estimates there are 400,000 Christians in North Korea. Of those, Open Doors estimates between 50,000 and 70,000 are incarcerated in that country’s brutal prison camps. The numbers seem remarkably high for a country where even being suspected of being a Christian is a major crime, where possession of a Bible can mean a death sentence, where sharing the Gospel can mean a life sentence for the entire family in the horrors of a prison camp. Even the most savage repression of Christianity cannot eliminate it.
What our text tells us about the impact of affliction on the children of Israel has been true of the followers of Jesus Christ ever since Pentecost. As persecuted first-century Christians fled Jerusalem, they carried the Gospel, and their zeal to spread it, throughout the known world. Their persecutors actually achieved the opposite of their intentions.
Nobody likes to suffer persecution and affliction for our faith. Pain and deprivation are unpleasant, for sure. But God always has a purpose behind any persecution that He allows us to endure, although we don’t always know what that purpose is. And He will never allow us to undergo any affliction that we are unable to bear. We also need to keep in mind that those who suffer for Christ in time will be rewarded by God in eternity.
Trying to keep God’s perspective on affliction will help us to accept it with the grace that He gives us. -Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/OoyeXn_cGMY