Walter Brueggemann, Old Testament scholar, says that Israel’s experiences of pain as recorded in the Old Testament are answered by God’s actions. He hears their cries of pain and responds. Hope in ancient Israel was expressed by “the relentless insistence that social hurt is not permanent, that oppression is not for perpetuity” (Old Testament Theology: Essays on Structure, Theme, and Text, 7). Israel believed that God would change things abruptly (“an inversion of circumstances”). It is a radical idea—that the present is not permanent and that there is genuine hope for the future. Things will change because God will change them. It was an optimism based on the intervention of God into human history. His kingdom would come and it would last forever. The kingdom of God has come in Christ, and will be consummated when he comes again.

One writer has suggested that we use the buffeting and temptations we encounter in the world as a way for toning-up the muscles of our faith (see Andree Seu, “What is the Victory?” World, June 7, 2003, 43). Toning-up the muscles of our faith is the theme of Hebrews 12:1-12. The “struggle against sin” in verse 4 has been taken by many to mean a struggle against one’s personal sins; however, if you take verse 3 into account (the opposition from sinful men), then verse 4 points more toward the meaning of overcoming the sins of the world or the sinful actions of men that seek to harm us, which press upon us as heavy weights. We can allow these weights to cause us to “grow weary and lose heart” (v. 3); or, we can use them as a means to tone-up our faith.

“Wars and rumors of wars.” These words are a painful reality for many. Most of us not in hostile areas are so inundated with the devastation of war and terrorism on television that, after a while, we want to push it away, hoping that it will disappear. Unfortunately, it is our daily dose of reality, and it does not look like it is going to end. Because we care about people, we feel the pain of injured humanity as though we were experiencing it ourselves.

Throughout history, Christians have utilized persecution as an avenue for ministry. Persecution can place us in situations where we would not normally be or want to be. When we are put in prison or taken to court for our faith, we have a venue that is not normally ours to utilize. We are thrust behind enemy lines where we can minister. Erwin McManus writes in The Barbarian Way: If Christ has won our heart, he will lead us “to advance forward behind enemy lines to win the hearts of those who do not yet know Him or love Him” (Barbarian, 13-14).

John the Baptist announced publically that the Kingdom of God was near. He preached repentance and proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom. When John was imprisoned, Jesus, who also announced publically at his baptism that the Kingdom was near, began his public ministry by preaching repentance and the coming of the Kingdom (see Matt. 3:1–12, Mark 1:14, 4:11). Arthur Glasser explains that Jesus was saying that the Kingdom was now accessible to those who would submit to the rule of God. When Jesus began to call disciples, he clearly indicated that involvement in the Kingdom of God would include public proclamation and evangelism.

The third chapter of 2 Timothy describes the terrible situation Paul calls the “last days.” These verses speak of the way things were following the coming of the Kingdom of God in Jesus Christ when he first came to earth. They also tell us about the days leading up to his second coming. In the middle of that chapter (verse 12) Paul says: “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

People often feel threatened by those whose views are opposed to their own. They may not have the skills or patience to debate and dialogue with these people, so they resort, out of frustration and fear, to some form of coercion to get their way. It may be a violent demonstration or a personal attack, but it seldom bears the mark of the lowly Jesus.

We are very familiar with the normal reasons to pray: to worship God, to intercede on behalf of others, and to petition God when we desire something from him. For our prayer to be radical it must go beyond the normal reasons and move into a higher or deeper realm. It needs to be seen as a weapon against evil and for good. It becomes intentionally audacious, going into spiritual battle with powers and forces which we cannot see but whose destructive presence we can sense. When we thrust forward in the power of the Spirit, we will meet opposition of some form in our spiritual lives and perhaps in our work or ministry.

Opposition to our faith causes us to cry out to God for justice, for God to deal not only with personal pain but also with those who perpetuate evil against us. The various authors of the Psalms vent their deepest desires regarding the enemies of God who were also their enemies. In Psalm 83:15, the Psalmist asks God to pursue them with a tempest just as a fire consumes a forest. Or, in Psalm 79, the writer asks God to pour his wrath upon the nations who resist God and who have menaced God’s people. The Psalms recognize that God punished and disciplined Israel for its sin and these writers desired to see the same justice applied to the pagan nations who had defied God.

A criticism leveled at Christians is that we are narrow-minded because we believe in one God, the Creator of the material world and also a spiritual realm that is beyond this world. Because we believe in a spiritual realm, we are accused of being superstitious. Belief in the spiritual world and in an unseen God can be a cause for persecution because it challenges the pervading worldview in many places of the world. Our belief put a lot of Christians into prisons in the old Soviet Union, and it continues to do so today in other world areas.