Where Darkness Reigns

The Bible reminds us that Christ is the light in the darkness we face, and while we may be encountering hopeless situations - and many people are, still we can cling to the faithfulness of God.  In our suffering, He is producing strength. Romans 5 states:
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;
4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

We will face instances of what would be termed "suffering" or "tribulation" in our lives.  When confronted with difficulty, we can choose to give in to fear and despondency or give over to the Lord our anxiety and lack of trust.  We can continue to remain hopeful and steadfast through the challenges we experience, being confident in the Lord, whom we know is producing fruit for His glory through our difficulty.

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The children of Israel suffered greatly at the hands of Pharoah, and while God sent a deliverer, Moses, it was by no means a smooth process. In Exodus 5, we find that Moses and Aaron appealed to Pharoah to allow the people to undertake a religious exercise:

4 Then the king of Egypt said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor."
5 And Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!"
6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying,
7 "You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8 And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'
9 Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words."

While in America, we enter into the Christmas season with hope and optimism even in the middle of a widespread increase in coronavirus cases.  And, I believe that we should be sensitive to the suffering that is around us, which takes various forms.

In North Korea, the country designated by Open Doors as the leading country that persecutes Christians, the government has implemented what is known as an "80-day battle," reported on by The Christian Post, which says that it has been implemented "purportedly to increase production in farming, mining, factories and to rebuild structures destroyed in a typhoon that hit the country’s eastern region in September." The article continues:

These so-called “battles,” in which the Kim regime forces North Koreans to work extra hours on government goals, are common in the country, executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, Greg Scarlatoiu, told The Christian Post.

“They call it a battle. [It] really is a public mobilization campaign. North Korea’s economy is very awkward. Their approach to doing more is to simply throw in more input, the input being labor,” he said. “There are groups reporting that children get mobilized to work on railway construction.”

Don't take your freedom as an American for granted - while some want to take our country in a more socialist direction, which would inevitably lead to greater government intrusion and control - the North Korean model is a sobering reminder of how that driving ideology can grow and result in widespread oppression.

And, the removal of their religious freedom.  Another Christian Post article relates examples of persecution of Christians in the nation known as the "Hermit Kingdom."  It says:

The London-based Korea Future Initiative published its latest report, “Persecuting Faith: Documenting religious freedom violations in North Korea,” which includes information from 117 interviews with those exiled from the isolated country.

The investigation documents 273 victims of religious freedom violations, ranging in age from just 3 years old to over 80 years old.

Though adherents of various religions are held in North Korea’s “reeducation” camps, the harshest punishments are reserved for Christians, the report found.

The report notes that there were in excess of 200 Christians who were punished for a variety of offenses, including "religious practice, religious activities in China, possessing religious items, contact with religious persons, attending a place of worship, and sharing religious beliefs."  There were "several" cases of Koreans possessing a Bible being executed in front of a firing squad.  And, the study included instances of women being sexually assaulted and forced to abort their children.  Some pregnant women were injected and forced to go into labor, then the baby would be delivered and smothered.

The article wraps up with some insight into the fear of Christianity that North Korean officials have, resulting in a desire to snuff it out.  The Christian Post story says:

Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American pastor who was held hostage in North Korea from 2012 to 2014, shared how the North Korean government is more afraid of Christians than nuclear weapons. According to Bae, most North Koreans have never heard the name of Jesus.

"They said, 'we are not afraid of nuclear weapons ... we are afraid of someone like you bringing religion into our country and use it against us and then everybody will turn to God and this will become God's country and we will fall," Bae said.

For this week of Thanksgiving, let's consider these four principles:

1) Remaining hopeful when the temptation is to do otherwise.  Biblical optimism is not wishful thinking.  We can choose to walk in hope and reject fear because we acknowledge that God is with us, even in the middle of a fallen world.

2) Remembering the suffering around the world and how Jesus came, lived, suffered, died, and rose from the dead to bring hope to people who are experiencing great trial.  And, the Bible teaches that suffering will fortify our faith - spiritual growth occurs among persecuted Christians because of their dependence on the Lord in difficult circumstances.

3) Rejoicing in our own blessings. We can't take God's blessings for granted. We are very fortunate to be living in America, because of the freedoms that we enjoy.  That is a gift of God, by the grace of God. We certainly have been given more than we deserve, so we can be thankful.

4) Recognizing that there are those less fortunate than we.  It's been a tough year for so many, so we can look for opportunities to be charitable, to be conduits of God's incredible grace and love.