Forgiveness—God’s Business - Martin Wiles

I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. Exodus 34:7 NLT

Forgiveness is never easy, but when it involves the death of an unborn child, it becomes incredibly challenging.

A pastor friend in India shared a disturbing story with me. Hindu fanatics carrying pistols, rods, and knives entered a church, attacked the pastor, his seven-month pregnant wife, and their daughter, and then tried to set the wife on fire. Fortunately, the family escaped. Less than a month later, my friend emailed to tell me the wife’s unborn child had died in her womb—a result of injuries received during the attack. Now she has a forgiveness decision to make.

Throughout the Bible, God portrays himself as a forgiving God. While he has standards and will punish those who stubbornly break those standards, he is more than willing to forgive those who recognize their sins and run to him for help.

God never holds our past against us. I have a past, you have a past, all God’s creations have a past. We can’t erase it; we can only deal with it. I’ve known a few people who wouldn’t come to God for forgiveness because they thought their past was too sordid for him to forgive. Forgiveness is God’s business, and no sin in our past is greater than his ability and desire to forgive it. He willingly and joyfully forgives anything we ask him to.

Understanding why God can forgive makes it easier to request his forgiveness. If his forgiveness is based on our ability to compensate for the wrongs we’ve committed, we’ll never receive it. But God’s forgiveness is based on Jesus’ work on the cross, not our righteousness. Since Christ was perfect—and since his work on the cross was too--God can forgive any and all sin without violating his holy nature. The only condition is that we ask and believe.

God’s forgiveness has no limit—other than the limit we place on it by not asking. When Jesus told Peter, the disciple, that he should forgive someone seventy times seven times if they asked, Jesus offered what represented a limitless number. God operates the same way.

Believe God can forgive any sin you’ve committed. Then get on with serving Him.

Father, I thank you for your willingness to forgive when I come to you in repentance. 

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Soul Comfort - Martin Wiles

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 NKJV

A red sign that read, “COVID-19 HOME UNDER QUARANTINE” decorated the door of every home the virus had infected.

Newscasts informed citizens of conditions in America and sometimes in China, but I rarely heard of conditions in any other country. However, I knew people fared poorly in India because my missionary friend who serves there periodically told me so. His recent message gave a sobering scene.

The virus had infected twelve of his neighbors, who were hospitalized. Officials had extended the national lockdown for another month. As in America, many companies were forced to close, and thousands were unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. What differed, however, were the daily wage laborers in India—something foreign to America. Thousands had returned to their villages, walking more than one hundred miles to get there, a journey that would take six to seven days.

One night, a truck had run over and killed eight of the day laborers as they slept on the street—two of them children. A goods train had run over another seventeen—six of whom were children—as they slept on railroad tracks during the night. Many of those walking were pregnant women or mothers with small children.

The news saddened me. As terrible as things seemed in America with millions infected by the virus, things could have been worse.

I prayed the night of my friend’s message that God would protect His children, give strength to medical professionals and first responders, provide wisdom for those working on a vaccine, and protect those who worked to manufacture and transport essential goods.

Many things lie beyond our control. The virus did. Yet, I remember God’s promise through Isaiah.

Following Christ doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t contract COVID or some other virus, but we do have the promise that God will meet our needs. He is as good as His word. When He says not to fear, we shouldn’t fear, but trust. We walk by faith, not sight. When we do, it builds our faith and character. Spiritual growth takes place, and we form a message we can share with others who face difficult times.

God is in the business of comforting our souls. Don’t let anything deprive you of the peace found in trusting Him. Fear not, weary pilgrim.

Father, when my soul is weary from traveling through this difficult world, comfort me with the promise of Your presence. 

Tweetable: Where do you look for soul care? 

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Hated and Hunted - Martin Wiles

And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. Exodus 1:21 NLT

Being hated is one thing, but being hated and hunted is even worse. 

“If you are worshiping the Lord freely, if you live as a Christian without fear of attack, and if you can carry a Bible in your hands on the streets, then you are a blessed person,” a pastor friend said.

Before becoming a Christian, he had belonged to the Communist Party. But after becoming a believer, he dedicated his life to helping impoverished women and orphaned children in his native country. He also trains other ministers to help him spread the gospel in a country where many want nothing to do with Jesus Christ and will persecute—and even kill—those who do. 

In his homeland, many lose their lives, homes, jobs, and other precious things simply because they are Christians in a country that is not friendly to Christians. I remember the video he once sent showing a group of missionaries with Bibles in the trunk of their car. Nationalists stopped the missionaries, snatched the Bibles from the trunk, piled the Bibles on the ground, and set them afire. 

In many states of his country, the government has passed anti-conversion laws, making those who have converted to Christianity ineligible for government jobs, as well as prohibiting them from using other state facilities. Many churches are forcefully closed or burned, and many pastors are jailed on false charges. 

Fanatical conservatives stabbed one local pastor and his wife while their children attended school. They loathed him because he had planted five churches and invited nationalists to convert to Christianity. Despite the daily persecution, many in this country daily choose Christianity. 

I suppose the two Hebrew midwives who helped the Israelite women deliver their babies also felt hated and hunted. When a new king came to power, he saw how the Hebrew slaves multiplied and worried they might overthrow his kingdom. He ordered the midwives to kill all baby boys they delivered. But the midwives feared God more than the king and refused to obey his order. 

Following Christ entails being hated and hunted. Jesus said people would hate us because they hated Him. I’ve never experienced what my pastor friend and his friends experience. In my country, I can still worship freely without threat, but even in the land of the free and the home of the brave, the enemies of Christianity try to repress religious expression in subtle ways. 

When we find ourselves among the hated and hunted—to whatever extent that might entail—let’s remember God controls even the persecution and its forms. Persecution refines and strengthens our faith. It also leads us to seek wisdom from God, so we’ll know how to keep spreading the gospel amid the threats. At the very least, we can do what Jesus said: pray for our enemies so that they might open their eyes to the truth. 

And like the Hebrew midwives, we must stand firm and hold tightly to the truth, regardless of how intense the hatred and hunting might be—even if it leads to our death. In the end, truth will win, and a new heaven and earth will be our home. 

Make up your mind to stand firm for Christ, even when misunderstood, laughed at, avoided, or persecuted in other ways. 

Father, give us strength to stand fast when hated and hunted.

Tweetable: Are you hated and hunted for your faith? 

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Blessed but Stressed - Martin Wiles

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair. 2 Corinthians 4:8 KJV

Although our stressors differ, we help each other through our stressful periods through prayer.

How I met my pastor friend in New Delhi, India, I don’t remember. Somewhere, he read a devotion I had written and sent me a message. Leary of answering to begin with, I finally did after investigating the website listed beneath his name. From then on, our friendship was cemented.

I love the periodic messages he sends, mostly prayer requests, but feel bad when I send him mine, which seem to pale in significance. Since Christianity is illegal where he lives, seeing one person come to know Christ is a blessing … but a stressor. He asks me to pray that their faith will remain strong and that they will influence others around them to trust Christ. I know nothing of such persecution.

I ask him to remember our financial situation since my wife can’t work. He sends me a video of Hindu nationalists commandeering missionaries’ Bibles and burning them in the streets. He tells me to pray because India has entered the cold, rainy season, and he is worried about rampant disease. I tell him my wife and I just took the flu shot. He reminds me they have no such luxury.

We are both blessed by God, but face different stressors. The apostle Paul did too. The list of his troubles was lengthy. Troubles haunted him on every side: stoning, shipwreck, lashes, jail, snake bite, false accusations. Yet, he didn’t grow weary in doing well. He may not have understood why God allowed it all, but he pressed on.

God places us in different geographical places and in various life situations, and these come with stressors that differ. Regardless of where we live or what our stressors are, God remains faithfully by our side. None of the things that cause stress reign greater than the God we serve. Each is under His control, and, when responded to correctly, will lead to our faith growing and God being glorified.

Stressors can also enhance our testimony. I’m amazed at how God uses my friend and how my friend takes each stressor in stride and keeps going. When we respond in the same way, others will notice and be drawn to the God we serve.

Let God help you deal with the stressors while you remember how blessed you are.

Prayer: Father, when the stressors come, help us remember You are greater than anything we face.

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When Suffering Is Good - Martin Wiles

My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees. Psalm 119:71 NLT

His messages fluctuate between good and bad.

Santhosh pastors in India. One of his recent messages said, “Twenty-five people have taken water baptism today. All of them came to Christ from non-Christian background. God is doing great work here.”

But the news isn’t always good. One message read, “Please continue to pray for Kerala. The situation is very horrible. There is no electricity, there is no toilets, no place to stay, even the hospitals are full of water and not working. Pregnant women and children are suffering literally.   Scarcity of food, drinking water. Dead bodies of animals are floating everywhere.”

Then come the stories of persecution. The accounts of pastors and other believers being burned or persecuted in other ways. The stories of Hindu nationalists who stop missionaries and burn an entire trunkful of Bibles they had intended to distribute.

His conclusion: “In spite of the increasing persecution and opposition, many people are coming to Christ and taking water baptism publicly.”

The psalmist would agree with my friend: suffering for his faith brought good. And, ironically, persecution has always led to the growth of Christianity while good times have resulted in complacency.

Suffering reminds me to pay attention to God’s commands and that I suffer because I obey them. God’s commands most often run counter-cultural. Although enacting them would result in a better society, sinful natures take us in the opposite direction because we think we know better than God. When we put God’s commands into action, they run against the grain, offend others, and often bring forms of persecution and suffering.

At the same time, suffering refines my faith. It takes faith to go against the norm. Others reject us, ridicule us, persecute us. When we take this path of most resistance, God grows our faith. We can’t walk this way without the strength He provides. Trying to go it alone leads to failure.

Suffering also brings good because it creates empathy for others. When we suffer for doing the right thing, we’re more likely to identify with others who suffer for the same reason. In turn, we’ll band together to do this great Kingdom work God has given us to do.

God doesn’t waste anything, and He won’t waste your suffering. Let your suffering—physical, spiritual, and emotional—lead to good in your life.

Prayer: Father, we accept the persecution as a part of our responsibility in following You.

Tweetable: Are you letting your suffering produce good? 

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