The Acts of Disciples
They Suffer Willingly – Part I
Scripture Reading: Acts 5:17-42
Key Verse: Acts 5:41
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
Today’s Scripture Reading tells the story about the jealousy of the High Priest and the Sanhedrin felt for the apostles. In those days, the religious leaders had the power to put people in jail without a fair trial. Out of their jealousy, they jailed the apostles for teaching people about Jesus and the message of the Gospel.
However, an angel of the Lord came at night and opened the gates of the jail and told the apostles to go and continue preaching the “message of life” (Acts 5:20). As the story unfolds, we see that the High Priest arrests them again, flogs them, and commands them to not preach about Jesus again!
Then we come to our Key Verse for today… they left rejoicing that they had suffered for the Name of Jesus (Acts 5:41).
When I read this story, I wonder if I could take a flogging and then rejoice that I had suffered for Jesus. Perhaps you wonder the same thing.
The good news is that God gives strength when we need strength, not when we think about needing it. God does not pass out His power like candy so He can show off that power. God gives power when His children step out in faith and do what is right no matter how hard it is. So, if you are a Christ-follower, you can believe that when you are tested, God will be there for you and give you supernatural strength.
The question is, are we willing to suffer for God and His Kingdom? Our suffering looks different than it did for the apostles.
For example, there is a sense of suffering when we say “no” to the temptations that come our way. Temptation makes us want something that satisfies our flesh but is a sin. Any denial of cravings brings a sense of suffering to our bodies, and that is not easy to do.
Another example is a Christ-follower that suffers embarrassment in front of people rather than tell a lie that prevents that embarrassment. That Christ-follower suffers disgrace for the Name of Jesus.
It is with God’s help and our willingness to suffer that we conquer sin in our lives.
One more example is Christ-followers that leave the comforts of home and country to serve as missionaries in a foreign land… they are suffering for the sake of God’s Kingdom.
There are many other ways to suffer but the question remains: are YOU willing to suffer, if God calls upon you to do so?
Father, I surrender my life to You, knowing that may mean suffering at times. Help me be willing to suffer and to know that Your strength is sufficient for those times. In Jesus’s Name I pray, amen.