Faith: Triumphant Over Torture

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." Matthew 5:11

          There's a kind of flower that blooms in the desert and when squeezed, it gives off a beautiful smell. The more it is squeezed the more it gives off its pleasant smell. This is the illustration that comes to mind when I think of the Christian church being persecuted.
          This week, I learned that as the early church suffered great persecution, she also contributed greatly to the formation of the most powerful movement the world has ever imagined. 
         When I hear the word "persecution," ugly pictures come to mind. Peter crucified upside down. James stabbed with a sword. Jude beaten to death with a club. Matthew burned and stoned. Simon being sawed in half. Thomas stabbed with a spear. Nathaniel flayed alive. Polycarp burned at the stake. Justin Martyr executed. Ignatius fed to wild beasts. A woman in Indonesia with her face burned. A Saudi Arabian pastor receiving death threats. A Syrian Christian teacher raped and beaten. A Nigerian Christian family massacred. An Algerian Christian man disowned by his family. And the list goes on and on. 
         Ugly pictures of death, violence, gore, despair, sorrow. But I learned this week that behind the hideousness of the persecution of Christians, is a beauty that no one can ever mar, a fragrance no one can ever withhold, a radiance no one can ever smother, a life no one can ever kill. I learn that there is triumph even in torture, there is life even in death, there is hope even in despair.
         Applying this to my life means enduring even in the midst of persecutions. The squeezing, crushing, pounding, breaking and shattering of my Christian life produces a fragrance and a beauty that will lead others to the sovereign God. As James pointed out, I have to consider joy the various trials that comes my way for the good God has good purposes for allowing them.