How encouraging it is when we refresh our mind or even read for the first time the challenging experiences of these courageous soldiers of God as they overcame the storms that they expected to face eventually.

1. Genesis 37:23-28 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe-- the richly ornamented robe he was wearing ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it. ²⁵ As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. ²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? ²⁷ Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed. ²⁸ So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

2. Daniel 6:16-17 So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!" ¹⁷ A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel's situation might not be changed.

3. Jeremiah 37:12-16 Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there. ¹³ But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, "You are deserting to the Babylonians!" ¹⁴ "That's not true!" Jeremiah said. "I am not deserting to the Babylonians." But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. ¹⁵ They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison. ¹⁶ Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time.

4. Matthew 14:3-10 Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, ⁴ for John had been saying to him: "It is not lawful for you to have her." ⁵ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet. ⁶ On Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much ⁷ that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist." ⁹ The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted ¹⁰ and had John beheaded in the prison.

5. Acts 16:19-24 When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ²⁰ They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar ²¹ by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." ²² The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. ²³ After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴ Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

6. Revelation 1:9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

None of these innocent victims ever complained about their situations for they knew that the Name above all names for which they stood would eventually provoke hatred, persecution, mistreatment, alienation, imprisonment, and even death. In other words, we must expect adversities as part of our pledge to serve the God of the universe.

Most of us associate whipping, flogging, beating, imprisonment with disobedience of some law [home, public, political, international etc.]. However, all of the circumstances mentioned above resulted from obedience—obedience to the will of God. How can a human being go to the extent of obeying at the cost of suffering? Mind you it is not any type of suffering. It is a suffering accepted on behalf of an invisible God. It is a suffering that doesn’t produce monetary gain. It doesn’t even earn them salvation; for the just is saved by grace and grace alone. Only the individual’s faith can push him to that extent. Those who suffer for the name of the Almighty do so without thinking about it. It is done unconsciously.

I had to present Peter’s experience separately for the disciple expresses outward joy which he would later prescribe in his first letter.

Acts 5:29-32 Peter and the apostles answered and said, "We must obey God rather than men. ³⁰ "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. ³¹ "He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. ³² "And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him." Acts 5:40 - 6:1 …after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them to speak no more in the name of Jesus, andthen released them. ⁴¹ So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. ⁴² And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

There are two elements in this passage that are truly remarkable. First of all, Peter and all the others who were in his company were rejoicing after their beating [even perhaps during their beating]. Secondly, in spite of their undeserved persecutions they kept on obeying the command of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). Peter not only demonstrates his joy but he also commands us to consider it joyful to be tormented for the name of Christ.

1 Peter 4:14-16 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ¹⁵ If yousuffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. ¹⁶ However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. [Hallelujah]

Do I need to go on any further?

2 Timothy 3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…

The road to heaven is not smoothly paved; it is designed with thorns, barricades, potholes, flying debris, cracks, moving sand, heavy winds, sliding ramps etc.

We do not become a new creature as part of an instantaneous process, but an ongoing process. As followers of Christ, we must be cursed at, smacked across the face, humiliated in public, ignored at the supermarket, fired from our job for no apparent reason, neglected at the teller’s window, put on hold for 10 minutes by the operator of DMV, told to come back another day, denied the position that we are qualified for, omitted from being registered even though we have provided all the necessary documents—for whatever reason—in order to learn, through the Holy Spirit, how not to curse back, hit back, feel shameful, feel ignored, loose patience etc.

These uncomfortable situations are in fact teaching us how not to respond according to the flesh but to the Spirit. God leads us purposely into these storms for His own purpose; one of them is for the glory of His name. I must add that some of us lead ourselves into storms as a result of following our own will. We trap ourselves by ourselves then we petition heaven for help. Deliverance will certainly come following repentance and the consequence for having not requested God for His will.

The sweetest aspect of these challenges is that Jesus leads us into the storms; meaning that He does not abandon us in them just as His Father sent angels to strengthen Him at various occasions (i.e. temptation in the desert [Matthew 4:11], at the garden of Gethsemane [Luke 22:42-45].

To run from storms is to run from spiritual growth. God places a steep mountain before each sheep who knows the voice of his Shepherd. However, not every mountain has the same level of difficulty to overcome. Each one of us will have to face different challenges that have been customized by heaven. These challenges have been pre-tested by the heavenly team in order to suit us accordingly. We can bear it all for we have a Master who is standing on our side to strengthen us through the storms.

We desire to benefit from the blood of the Persecuted One but we resent from participating in His exemplary persecutions. How selfish of us? As sinful beings, we are weak by nature and we will remain weak in the absence of difficult settings. Just as a muscle remains weak when it is not trained vigorously we will not bear worthy fruits in the absence of challenges even though we are connected to the Great Vine.

As soldiers of the army of God we cannot and should not expect to live a life where we are comforted with a soft pillow and a warm comforter. We are in the middle of warfare. All wars cause turbulences. All wars cause panic attack. All wars demand undivided attention. However, all wars are not fought the same way. All storms are not overcome the same way. We must rely upon the Rock to manage all coming storms just as an eagle does it.

“Did you know that an eagle can detect when a storm is approaching long before it breaks? It will actually fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm.

Isn’t that remarkable? While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above. It does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm. What an extraordinary way to deal with adversity!

There is a wonderful lesson for God’s children to learn from the way an eagle approaches a storm. When the storms of life come upon us, we, too, can rise above them. We can lift ourselves above adversity by setting our minds and our hearts toward God. The storms do not have to overcome us any more than they overcome the eagle. We can allow God’s power to lift us above them.

Here is something to think about. When the eagle flies above the storm, he is in a sense overcoming it. But he does so in a most interesting way. He uses the strength of the storm to rise above it.

Isaiah 40:31 Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.

That is one of the things God wants us to do. We can use adversity for gain. We need to learn from trials—to grow from the experience and be made better (James 1:2-3). Trials are to be confronted and endured (2 Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Timothy 4:5; Hebrews 12:7). We must face the things that challenge us and grow in virtue because of the challenge.

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (II Corinthians 4:17).

God is looking for over comers. And He has a wonderful promise for them.

“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Revelation 3:21).[1]

Whether you are eating, drinking, singing, preaching, whatever you do, do it all for the Glory of God. Live today as if it was the last day you will live for and in Christ.

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS DAILY AND FOLLOW CHRIST!