“We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22)

St. Paul made this statement after being dragged out of the city of Lystra and stoned.  He and Barnabas had been preaching the good news there when Paul saw a man who had been crippled from birth.  Paul perceived that the man had faith to be healed and asked him to stand up.  He did and started walking and jumping around.  The people were amazed, but then some people came from Antioch who were jealous of Paul and won over the crowd.  They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking him dead. 

Paul recovered from his stoning and returned to Lystra, strengthening the disciples, encouraging them to remain true to the faith, and making the above statement. (Acts 14:8-20)

There was resistance to building the kingdom of God in Paul’s day and there is resistance in our day.  Christians around the world are encountering ever increasing resistance and persecution in the Middle East, Africa, China, and parts of what was once considered Christendom.  In our country, we find increasing hostility to God’s natural law and scripture-based beliefs in traditional marriage and life, including the life of unborn babies.      

We should not be surprised by these trends for Jesus warned, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” (John 15:20) But he also said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt. 5:10)

The Holy Spirit took this small group of apostles, who ran in fear at Jesus’ arrest, and turned them into bold spokesmen for Jesus and the kingdom of God.  They and their successors overcame one of the most powerful and longest lasting empires the world has ever seen and brought the kingdom of God to millions of people in most of the known world. 

This same Holy Spirit is available to us today.  Perhaps we and our circumstances are different from the first disciples, but the Holy Spirit is not.  The same power to build and advance the kingdom of God is available to us just like it was to Paul and the first disciples.  Yes, there will likely be hardships as Paul mentions, and perhaps even persecution. 

But this is what the love that is central to the kingdom of God is all about – sacrifice, the giving of self, and the laying down of one’s desires for the love of God and others.  It may run counter to our nature, but it is a higher calling that God has for each of us – building God’s kingdom with the people and circumstances in our lives here and now. 

Are you willing to experience persecution to advance God’s kingdom?