Favor and persecution

Recently I was thinking about the favor of God on my life since young, even before I became a believer. Since young, I received a lot of attention from friends and relatives. My aunties and uncles doted on me. I thought it was because I was the first grandchild or that I was cute and adorable. Before I came to New Creation Church, the notion of God's favor was not in my awareness. I really thought it was my outgoing character that caused me to 'shine' in the crowd. But yet  I never really thought I was any different from my friends. I didn't want to be different because I wanted to be well liked by them. But the fact was God made me differently. When I understood God's favor, I now realize that the reason people liked me was because the favor of God was on my life.

What I didn't realize was, with the favor comes persecution and distractions. Like this unmerited favor that came upon my life, the corresponding persecution was something that I did not deserve. It was not because I had done wrongly or had such pride that incurred the jealousy of others. It happened because Jesus was first persecuted. In John 15:18-19, Jesus said 'If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.' 

I didn't know that each time the Lord released favor in my life or brought me to a higher level, the greatest persecution came from someone whom I was so close to. It really hit me so hard. It seemed like the evil one knew my weakness is in my soft heart and the value I place on friendships. I am a friendly and approachable person hence I have many acquaintances. But I do not have many deep abiding friendships that I can open my hearts to. So whenever I come across one of such deep friendships, I really treasure it. I am the type of person not easily affected by what others say. I thank God I am secure in Christ. But I value the opinions of my close sisters very much. I can and will be affected by what they say about me. God has taught me to always verify what man said about me with Him because most of the times, these statements are not true.

Honestly I really don't like comparisons and the spirit of envy whether it is in me or others. Most of the time I don't compare myself to others...maybe just in the area of childbearing. But the Lord has slowly changed my mind in this area, always reminding me not to compare. I don't like persecutions but I have come to accept that it is part and parcel of the favor that God had poured out in my life. Like Pastor Prince said, the dog can keep barking but the moon still shines. That's what I will continue to do: shine with the glory of God! I enjoy His favor and I learn to cast the persecutions back to Jesus. I just learn to ignore them. I don't think I am being too sensitive over this. I was not even aware that persecution crept in so subtlety. Many times I was still wondering what happened. Is it me or them? 

Sometimes persecutions can come in the form of spiritual resistance or outward circumstances that come against the Word of God. If you reflect on your life, it would seem like after God gave you a promise or a Word about your future that excites your spirit, the circumstances that happened shortly after would be at odds with His Word. You would be puzzled and wonder what happened? If 
you would look to God, He would show you that the evil one has come to steal the Word planted in your heart through these adverse situations. 

The evil one wants you to be discouraged and give up on God's Word. He cannot allow this seed to take root because he knows how big a tree it will grow into. By the time it sprouts out of the ground and grows into a tree, it would be too late to steal the Word. Hence he has to steal it in seed form. When the Lord showed me that such things are persecutions from the enemy, it cleared away all my confusion. It has nothing to do with me...the battle belongs to the Lord. I just continue to rest in His love and bank on His faithfulness. 

I have come to realize that in this world, we would have persecution because it was Jesus that they first hated. But Jesus told us that He has overcome the world. I also found out that not all people will celebrate my success or sincerely wish me blessings on the road to greatness. The fact is you will find more critics and naysayers than supporters. It can be a lonely path but thank God He has promised to be always with me. That's all I needed - His friendship and companion and most importantly His protection.