Receiving the Word With Joy, Even in Affliction

I read this verse today and thought of our church people when I read it. 

Paul had been in Philippi. While there, he was arrested, beaten, and thrown in jail. He and Silas sang in jail and God opened their bonds. Their jailer and his whole family were saved as a result. 

He then traveled to Thessalonica. He was only there for a month, but many people were saved and baptized and a church was born. Sadly, only weeks into their birth, that church suffered persecution because of Paul and Silas.

Yet, we see here that they suffered that affliction with joy. They gladly turned to God from idols and served Him. Their witness spread through the whole region. Paul didn’t even have to preach because of the testimony of the Thessalonians.

I was thinking about our churches today as I read this. Yes, we have struggles. People don’t always get along. They are still growing in their sanctification, just like me.

Yet their testimony (in most of the communities at least) is well known. They are known as churches where God’s Word is preached and followed. They are known because of their witness. People from the community are coming and they are being saved.

And all this is in the face of their affliction. It isn’t the same affliction that Paul faced, but it is just as legitimate.

Ngarama church lost another section of their roof this last week. Roughly 1/3 of the roof remains. Yet the church was full today, just as it was last time. Everyone sat in the sun. James sweated it out in the front of the church, facing into the sun the whole time he preached. The people are praying for God to provide for their roof to be repaired and they are believing He will do it.

The UN hasn’t brought food out for our refugees for over a month. The primary affliction these people have faced is hunger.

We heard that the people who process the refugees into the camp are demanding a fee and won’t give the refugees the basics they need for food and shelter until they pay it. They aren’t supposed to do this. Yet our people are trying to find ways to work around it, to meet the needs of the newcomers who don’t have anything, even though they themselves have nothing.

Could I stand and be as joyful as they are in the face of the affliction they face on a daily basis? I don’t know if I could. I fear I’d let the worry and self-pity overwhelm me.