Many people who have walked any kind of journey with Jesus know that being a Christian isn’t easy. Jesus himself said to His disciples that anyone who followed Him would face persecution (John 15:19-20)
"If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also."
This verse perfectly describes the challenges we have and will continue to face when we give over full control to Jesus. Anyone who says that being a Christian is ‘easy’ is not speaking the truth and we see this being played out in the life of one very strong woman, Virginia Prodan.
Having grown up in Romania, under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, Virginia followed the call to fight for justice and truth. She quickly became a successful lawyer, but this was not enough for her and one day, after reading from the most forbidden book in Romania, the Bible, Virginia gave her life to Jesus. She faced many years of torture, beatings, kidnappings and house arrests all because she fought for justice for her fellow followers of Christ who were facing unjust persecution in an otherwise ungodly country.
Yet, despite all that she faced; Virginia kept fighting for her faith. She continued to follow Jesus’ call into the places where most of us wouldn’t even dare to walk. This led her to the pivotal moment in her life where she faced her assassin; a man who was sent by the government to execute her. As she looked at her assassin, she felt a small whisper saying, “tell him about Jesus.” As she shared the gospel of Jesus with her assassin, the killer slowly put down his weapon, nodded his head and with tears in his eyes, gave his life to Christ that day.
Now there may be some of you reading this story and thinking to yourselves: Why must my walk with Jesus be a challenge? Why must I face these problems just to follow Jesus?
To those of you asking that question today, I invite you to take a look at Matthew 5: 10-12
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Your story is probably not the same as Virginia’s, no one’s stories are the same. We all have our personal relationship with Jesus so don’t compare yourself to anyone else. But take encouragement from Virginia. Take heart in the scripture which tells us that we are blessed when we are persecuted. We may not be blessed with worldly wealth, but we are blessed in the most important relationship that we could ever have. Yes, following Jesus means that we face hard times, we face persecution, but following Him also means that we can live the abundant life that He wants for us.
Take heart, followers of Christ, and don’t be afraid to fight for what you believe. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone to fulfil the calling that God has placed on your life. Forget about worldly wealth and focus on that which is waiting for you in eternity.