“But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear! “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell ” (NLT) Mathew 10: 26-28

I so much love this message. This is one of Jesus’ messages to his twelve apostles, as a form of encouragement to them when He sent them out to minister to others. I believe that just as these apostles who lived during the time of the Lord needed such encouraging words even so we of contemporary times also need same.

The world today is scary enough and the Christian today is constantly persecuted as was the days of old. We as Christians are being crushed daily by the worldly standards that we abhor because of the love we have for God. The devil is also constantly roaring in our lives because he knows that our future is indeed bright in Christ Jesus and as such he seeks to frighten us on daily basis with his threats through different angles – job, family, ministry works, relationships, national crisis, among others. This has caused uncertainties in the hearts of many Christians, resulting in shaky faiths.

But Jesus is telling us once more “Do not be afraid of those who threaten you … those who want to kill your body…” Jesus knows that all the devil can do is to shake us in our physical bodies and to the extreme can only touch that which is limited to our bodies. The devil has no control over our soul. Whenever you find yourself in doubt on this issue, remember the story of Job.

God in His wisdom watched Job’s life get tormented by the devil (Job 1 & 2) but in the silence of Job’s struggle, God’s presence was strong (Job 35-42). In all that, God never left Job. Through the interactions with the people around him during his suffering, Job’s faith and righteousness were equally questioned and tested by the evil one.

At the end, Job understood the sovereignty of God (His decisions and His plans for Job’s life). Like Job, we also are constantly threatened by the devil’s machinations in our lives. But God is speaking to us in silence through the sufferings, persecutions, poverty, failures, disappointments etc. that, it may seem unending but they are mostly opportunities to find new songs and testimonies to glorify Him. So in the secrets of our hearts, let’s focus on the message God is giving us through our tribulations and not the pain that comes with the tribulations and then make it known to all mankind how great our God is. 

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