I heard a preacher tell a story once about a certain occurrence that unfolded at a concentration camp during World War II. Beaten, tortured, and starved, the Jewish prisoners (men, women, children) were marched to what would be the firing line, as the pit immediately behind them was filled with lifeless bodies. It was the dead of winter and well below freezing as they were told to strip off their garments and place them in an indiscriminate pile. Seconds turned to minutes, as the only thing that would immediately spare their life of almost certain death was the renunciation of their faith and God. Soon after one individual broke free of the line, to which a soldier, a would be executioner, immediately stripped away his garments and ran to stand in his placed. When asked “what are you doing?”, his response was “did you not see?”, see what they inquired, he said at the moment the individual abandoned their place was the exact moment he witnessed the hand of God delivering the promised “crown of life” to those that while suffering greatly, did not deny him.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
[8] We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; [9] Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
Considering what we are witnessing today and for quite some time, we can admit that it we are truly troubled on every side, and it does not appear as if there is any immediate relief in sight. Grocery shelves are empty, gas prices are beyond control, hate and murders persist, the threat of war awaits us at every turn, however, I can offer with the greatest assurance that God remains in control, and has not delegated that authority to another.
Some may dispute, while others question how so?; and my response remains the same, like the rhythmic beat of the heart, his promises aren’t dead, but alive omnipotent and omnipresent in the gift of his word; but line by line, page upon page, verse after verse, each and every chapter is a reflection of God's promise of hope. I would ask, before we go any further, that we place aside, if for a moment, our populous westernized view of Christianity, in which good things happen to good people, and bad and insufferable things only occur to those that are otherwise, and see more plainly based on the most fundamental Biblical principles; our personal relationship with God, and how we fellowship with him, not as a consequence of how we believe he judges good and evil, but from the view that his holiness, his righteousness and enduring love for us, you and me, no matter where we live, no matter who we are, no matter where we choose to dwell, captive or free, remains the unbroken and resolute.
