“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

Matthew 10:16 – 20

Can this be?  Is this what we are called to experience?  Or was that for just that time?  Could it be that our calling is to have a nice life, a perfect family, problems solved, prosperity aplenty, peace in our hearts, hope of more of the same, even better in heaven?

I am now trying to look back on my own walk with Jesus, along with my dear wife, Anna Ruth, with whom I walked through thick and thin for these sixty-seven years?  A quick answer is, our hope overcomes our challenges. 

Let me explain how I see it.  Both of us knew that following Christ was both a joy and a challenge.  As we found God leading us into a life of one battle after another, battles within and without, we somehow had the fortitude to cling to Jesus and push on.  Had we known the uphill battles we were called to fight, maybe we would have been daunted and fearful.  Instead, looking back over the years, the fears never did obliterate our hope and joy in knowing sins forgiven, empowering of the Holy Spirit and friends who loved us.  Maybe if we had known how our faith would have been tried and tested, how difficult it is to say “no” to self and “yes” to God, we would have been reluctant to step out and face a series of challenges that would require every ounce of faith we had.

I think of the struggles of our early life together, trying to find our way with one another and with this world, we praise God for sustaining our faith that became ours personally in our dedication of ourselves to God. Then the calling that took us to another world, Africa, where we faced the challenges of raising children and serving God in a culture and world unlike our own.  I am amazed how we passed through those times.  I suppose we had dual feelings, one the joy of being a follower of the Lamb, the other being that of a struggling learner, prone to hold our own opinions and judging others unlike ourselves. As I look back, the joy of being called by Jesus and supported by him in every way took precedence in my thinking and living.

A wee secret, if I had known the forces working against us I may have been fearful.  Somehow the hope and joy in the Lord prevailed!  That is all I can say.

So our calling was not as harsh as that of the twelve in Matthew 10, thankfully.  Yet, as we look back, what happened to us and continues to happen contains the very same elements, challenges and hope, with hope in Christ dominant.