“19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they had won over the crowds and stoned Paul, they dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead. 20 After the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

21 After they had evangelized that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to pass through many troubles on our way into the Kingdom of God.”

23 When they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 After they spoke the message in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 27 After they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported everything God had done with them and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they spent a considerable time with the disciples.”

Acts 14:19-28

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It is definitely not in our nature to continue to seek out a goal when we have been beat down in previous attempts. Most of us wouldn’t go to Derbe, and then to Lystra and through the cities occupied by the people who had so viciously opposed us, desiring us dead and angry enough to see it done. And this doesn’t mean that Paul is some kind of superhuman. Instead, it shows that he was compelled by the Gospel message, and that message compelled hom to continue forward, no matter the circumstances. So when he said “It is necessary to pass through many troubles on our way into the Kingdom of God.” he was speaking from a position of knowledge and authority. But he was also speaking from the position of a faithful servant. 

We shouldn’t be so easily discouraged. I doubt that many of us have been mobbed, beaten and left for dead for teh sake of the Gospel. I don’t mean to invalidate our feelings, but sometimes our passion is too small, our will is too weak. Rather than find our strength in God, we retreat into ourselves and are tempted to give up too easily. Rather than expecting hardship, knowing it is inevitable, we act as though we must have done something wrong, or that we are being singled out. 

We cannot look at the examples of men like Paul, Stephen, James, John and so many others who expereinced hardship and persecution and then expect to somehow get out of it ourselves. Hardship & the Gospel go hand in hand. It is a battle. Struggle is going to happen in our own hearts, it’s going to happen as we try to share the Good News. We must trust in God, lean on Him, rest in HIm and continue forward despite the opposition. Everyday, we make a practice of snatching victory out of the jaws of seeming defeat. The world will never acquiesce, it will never back down. The struggle will continue until our Lord Jesus returns and shuts the opposition down. 

So, we should all GoLove, knowing that it will be a struggle, and keep pressing forward, even in the face of those who would oppose us. We just don’t fight back the way that they would expect. We speak the truth in love, we bend to serve, we die to self, we live for Christ. And they will know we are Christians by our love for one another and by the obdience to Christ that is exhibited in our lives. Jesus didn’t back down from opposition, He is our example. Follow Him.