Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Woodrow Kroll
The Cross
The greatest travesty of justice to ever occur in human history was when they illegally tried Jesus and wrongfully convicted Him. He was without sin and never broke one of God’s laws, but there He was, being beaten by the Roman guards and then crucified and left to die for six hours like a common criminal! That is a miscarriage of justice, to be sure, but it made possible our redemption through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross (John 3:16).
The Prisoner
When Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, who originally intended to kill him, it set off a chain of events that proved to save the nation of Israel. The evil that these brothers did came back to save their own lives. When Joseph was thrown into prison, he interpreted the dreams of the baker and the cupbearer, it came to the attention of Pharaoh who had a dream and couldn’t find anyone to interpret it. Joseph could by God’s help and Joseph saw a severe famine coming and saved enough grain to keep most of the known world from starving to death, and so in this case, God used the evil of Joseph’s brothers to save many lives (Gen 50:20).
The Imprisonment
If the Apostle Paul had not been thrown into prison, we might not have had as much of the New Testament as we now have. Since Paul was often confined in prison, he had time to write letters to the different churches to keep in contact with them but these letters, known as epistles, became part of the New Testament, so Paul’s imprisonment was very, very good for us and everyone else whose ever read Paul’s letters in the last 2,000 years.
The Blessings
If you are ever persecuted for righteousness sake, thank your enemies for their blessing. They might have a puzzled look on their face at that remark, but it’s biblical because Jesus said in Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Conclusion
I can testify that Woodrow Kroll is right, cherish your enemies; they may be blessings in disguise, just as they were at Calvary, with Joseph, with Paul, and with us. If your enemies hate you, remember it’s really not the messenger they hate, it’s the message, but keep in mind, “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1st Pet 4:14). Don’t you want that?
