Knocked Out Of Your Comfort Zone

"Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction"  (Isaiah 48:10, HCSB).
"The LORD says, 'I will give you back what you lost ["I will repay you for the years..." or make it up to you (HCSB)] to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts.  It was I who sent this great destroying army against you'"  (Joel 2:25, HCSB).

"... God left him to test him and discover what was in his heart," (cf. 2 Chron. 32:31, HCSB).

"... It is necessary to pass through many troubles on our way to the kingdom of God," (cf. Acts 14:22, HCSB). 

We all must endure the fires of the testing of our faith to ensure its reality and genuineness. It's more precious than gold and silver which are refined by fire.  It's not for God's sake that we get tested--He knows all and doesn't learn from the experience--it's we who learn and must realize for ourselves how strong we are in the Lord and whether our faith is strong enough to endure hardship, or whether it's just fair-weather faith. When the chips are down we must find out where our heart is and what we're made of!  We should be proud to be able to say in sympathy:  Been there, done that!  And put ourselves in their shoes and be on the same page.

Job, the patron saint and poster child of suffering par excellence, was tested, but not beyond his ability!  He may have questioned God and defended his own record but he was self-righteous, and his faith hung in there and he never gave up the ship!  He left the bosom of the home and thought outside the box to wonder what was happening and to answer his miserable comforters who really were his critics.  We can all relate to his depression and can find ourselves in a melancholy mood too sometimes, but this was severe and he was experiencing the doldrums and was in the pits, in a real funk! The Bible says that when we are being tested at least our friends shouldn't dessert us and we should find comfort and solace with them as we seek empathy. Job had the additional discomfort of being condemned by his "comforters" and "friends."

Second Corinthians 1:4 says that God is a God of comfort and allows us to experience hardship and trial so we can comfort others with the comfort that we have received.  We should be able to relate to others and put ourselves in their shoes.  Paul said in Phil. 3:10 that he wanted to know Christ and the fellowship of His suffering-to suffer with Him!  There is a union and fellowship in suffering and God not only calls us to faith, but to suffering on behalf of Christ to fulfill His passion and to glorify God through them.  For we are participating in the sufferings of Christ (cf. Col. 1:24).

When we get saved and surrender our wills to His and give up the ownership of our lives to be directed by God's will to His glory, we enroll in the school of suffering and decide to take up our cross daily and be willing to suffer for His name's sake--no cross--no crown!  We must learn to endure hardship to be good soldiers in Christ because this comes with the territory and we sign up for it!  It's only to be expected to suffer and should consider it an honor to be counted worthy to suffer for the sake of the Name!

The trials we have endured are like stripes on our shoulders or feathers in our cap and could be seen as the red badge of courage or our Purple Heart to show that we have been tried in the course of battle in the angelic conflict.  The purpose of our suffering may never be answered, for God owes us no explanation and isn't accountable to us (He's too deep to explain Himself to us too kind to be cruel and to wise to make a mistake), but we must learn to endure not only during the good times but through thick and thin when faith isn't so easy when push comes to shove and faith isn't an automatic given! 

The uniqueness of our faith is that we believe in a suffering God who bore our sorrows and griefs and didn't exempt Himself from hardship and suffering, so we can know He feels us in our pain and knows where we are in our time of need.  Adversity, discipline, suffering, and trials are inevitable but that's how we gain Christlikeness.   Soli Deo Gloria!

O.J.T. In The Real World

"[B]ut man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward"  (Job 5:7, ESV).

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous:  but the LORD delivereth him out of them all"  (Psalm 34:19, KJV). 

"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold"  (Job 23:10, ESV).  

"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him"  (Philippians 1:29, NIV). 

"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance character..." (Romans 5:3-4, ESV). 

"For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow [" for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men," ESV]"  (Lamentations 3:33, NLT).

"... Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad? ..." (Job 2:10, NLT).

"Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty"  (Job 5:17, NIV).

"Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law"  (Psalm 94:2, ESV).

"I create the light and make the darkness.  I send good times and bad times..."  (Isaiah 45:7,
NLT).


Christians would be wise to heed the Word of God and pay attention to their elders and teachers, much more their parents as children, because they stand in loco Dei [in the place of God]!  We learn to rebel and question authority at a very young age and we all lose faith at some time in those that deserve our respect.  If we don't learn our lessons the easy way from Scripture, we will learn the hard way in the school of hard knocks!  We all do need backup training in the on-the-job-training (OJT) of real-life--this may be the dog-eat-dog world, the rat race, or the law of the jungle with the survival of the fittest, but we should be assured that when we go through the fire we will not be overwhelmed according to Isaiah 43:2, ESV:  "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you."

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience [and the Word, of course], but shouts to us in our pains," C.  S.. Lewis has said.  There are no shortcuts, easy paths, nor simple formulae to follow to maturity--no magic formula or Eightfold Path [of Enlightenment] either like Buddha taught.  No matter how many noble truths we think of we cannot save ourselves nor find the truth.  We all learn by discipline as God is putting us through the crucible of life as one does a piece of silver, refining it till one sees himself in the reflection.

Experience is not what happens to you, but in you, it has been said, but note that the same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay, some people become bitter, and some better because of the same event--God knows what is best for us and what we can handle. Christ didn't exempt Himself from suffering and our crosses pale in comparison--He doesn't expect anything of us He didn't accomplish or endure; suffering, trials, temptations, adversity, trouble, and discipline are inevitable!  This is par for the course!

There are pitfalls to life and God doesn't promise us a bed of roses or a rose garden.  We learn from our mistakes and hardships, not our successes and prosperity.  Trials are a learning experience that we should welcome as friends that teach us the basics of life--the facts of life.  If we don't learn from the Bible, we will learn one way or another, probably by our mistakes and failures.  We will learn that making plans without God in them is vain and futile.  We don't bring our plans to God for His approval but seek His will in all we do.

Our life is but a pilgrimage or spiritual journey that is meant to glorify God and mold us in the image of Christ.  Just like a sculptor makes a horse from a slab of marble by taking away everything that doesn't resemble the horse, God is taking away everything that doesn't look like Jesus!  There comes a time to apply what we know and get our heads out of the books and step into the real world and learn by trial and error, if not by heeding the Word,  how to obey Christ, and abide in His will.


We have matriculated in the school of Christ and discipleship is largely discipline, accountability, and acceptance of authority.  God is determined to make us Christlike--it comes with the territory! We cannot opt-out of discipline--it's a mandatory course and a requisite--"for whom the Lord loves He chastens," and Christians don't get away with anything and God oversees everything--the good news is that everything is Father-filtered, and nothing happens outside His will for our lives.  (Note Lam. 3:37, NLT, "Who can command things to happen without the Lord's permission?")   

We must not disdain the Lord's corrective discipline:   "But consider the joy of those corrected by God!  Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin"  (Job 5:17, NLT); "Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?" (Lam. 3:39, NLT).  Christ exhorted us to "count the cost"--don't be surprised that your faith must be tested!  We will find out by experience that the Christian life is not hard, it's impossible!

One can endure any suffering if one sees purpose and meaning in it--Christianity alone offers this--and we can be assured of what we signed up for:  no cross, no crown!  God places nothing in our path we cannot handle and cannot learn from.  Trials are a vote of confidence from God that He deems us worthy of being tested--if the Lord got you to it, He'll see you through it!  

Jesus wasn't afraid to get His hands dirty doing the Father's work, He joyfully got down and dirty with the so-called scum and outcasts.  In summation, when Christ makes the final audit of our lives at the Bema, Tribunal, or Judgment Seat, of Christ will we have accomplished His will for our lives and glorified Him with all our resources, talents, skills, money, opportunities, gifts, relationships, and time management?
Soli Deo Gloria!  

The Whereabouts Of God

"... While they say to me continually, 'Where is your God?'"  (Psalm 42:10, ESV).
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart"  (Jer. 29:13, KJV).  
"Seek the LORD while He may be found; 
Call upon Him while He is near"  (Isaiah 55:6, NASB).  
"... Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"  (Joel 2:17, NIV).
"... Why my enemies continually taunt me, saying, 'Where is this God of yours?'"  (Ps. 42:3, NLT). 

Have you ever felt abandoned by God like Job?  He wondered that, too:  "Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!" (Job 23:3, ESV).  Job was desperate and was confident it wasn't his fault or that he deserved it, but God was MIA to his reckoning.  Sometimes God withdraws from us to see what is in our heart!  Our faith is more precious than gold and must be tested, to see if we are going by feeling or faith; faith is what pleases God, not feelings or sentiment! We must learn to walk by faith and not by sight (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17).

 Sin separates us from God (Psalm 66:18 says, "If I regard iniquity in my heart the LORD will not hear me"), and God is not the one who moved, you did!   Even Job didn't realize that his sin was self-righteousness if you look at his boasting in Job 31.  In the end, he found repentance at the revelation of God's greatness and it humbled him.

The fact of the matter is that "he is actually not far from each one of us"  (cf. Acts 17:27, ESV).  God is never further than the mention of His name, but even some believers don't know Him by name--His name isn't "God!"  People often mock believers because it seems like their God has abandoned them, but the fact is that He will never leave us nor forsake us (cf. Heb. 13:8).   Jesus said in the Great Commission:  "...I am with you always...." Jesus name is, in fact, Emmanuel, and that is interpreted as meaning that "God is with us"!  That God is nearby is called the immanence of God as per Isaiah 57:15, which says, "This is the high and lofty One [re the transcendence of God] says--he who lives forever, whose name is holy:  'I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.'" In short, God is above and beyond, yet approachable! 

People often sarcastically inquire where God was in a disaster like 9/11, but people who were there will testify that Jesus was there all the time.  When they ask you where God is, simply ask them where He isn't!  Where was the church?  We don't need a mirror to see that we are walking miracles and, since everything is caused by God, miracles are only unusual events caused by Him, or they'd be called "regulars." There is a God-shaped blank or vacuum in our souls that only God can fill according to Blaise Pascal, and when God lives in our hearts we can communicate and fellowship with Him--that's why we are created in the image of God!  (We alone have the will to obey, the heart to love, and the mind to know God.) Animals never wonder about the whereabouts of God, nor ask, since they are oblivious to the spiritual world and knowledge.

Pascal said that in nature we don't see the manifest presence of God, nor the complete absence of God, but the presence of a hidden God. God wants us to find Him and doesn't show Himself to triflers, but those who seek with their whole heart (cf. Jer. 29:13; Isa. 55:6).  Isaiah announced, "Truly, you are a God who hides yourself..."  (Isa. 45:15, ESV).   It is not a matter of God hiding, but of whether we are looking for Him and seeking His face (as Jesus said in Matt. 7:7, "...[Seek] and you shall find...")! Take comfort in Jesus' promise that whenever two or three are gathered together in His name, there He is among them (cf. Matt. 18:20)!  Sometimes you may honestly wonder where God, is but then you might be finding out where the devil is!

If you think that they had it good in Jesus' day when He was with them, or that some people are more blessed by having had visions, we have it better than they did because we have the resident Holy Spirit and the complete canon of Holy Writ to guide us and for God to speak to us through.  You can find God's presence:  "I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me, I said, 'Here am I, here am I,'...." (Isaiah 65:1, NASB).  Christianity is not belief there is a God, but believing in the God who is there!  As Francis Schaeffer said, "He is there and He is not silent!"  In sum, ponder the song:  "Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place...." (cf. Gen. 28:16).    Soli Deo Gloria!

Are You Cashing In or Enduring?

"Endure hardship as discipline..." (Hebrews 12:7, NIV).  
"But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship..."  (2 Timothy 4:5, NIV).
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith"  (2 Tim. 4:7, NIV).

Some believers seem to be deluded about the cost of discipleship and the suffering that comes with the package.  God doesn't promise to make us all rich, famous, influential, or powerful:  We are not worshiping at the altar of Almighty Chance trying to cash in our spiritual lottery ticket and live a balanced, successful life; we're here to do God's will: to know Him and make Him known (cf. Jer. 9:24).  We are just vessels of honor used by God, which should be seen as a privilege of grace, and are just servants to whom we hope God will say at that day:  "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

It is by discipline, suffering, trials, tribulation, and adversity that we build character and these are our crosses to bear, but they pale in comparison to Christ's.  Philippians 1:29 says that it has been granted unto us "to suffer for his sake."  Christ was honest enough to warn us of this and didn't exempt himself from any humiliation, persecution, shame, suffering, nor temptation.   Paul also expresses the desire to rejoice in the fellowship of His sufferings in Phil. 3:10.  Contrary to what Joel Osteen writes about in Your Best Life Now, our reward is in heaven and we are only spiritual pilgrims on green cards with citizenship in heaven only passing through!

Some of us have more hardship than others, but none of us gets a free ride or a bed of roses; it's an affliction that shapes our character and makes us Christlike.  Sure, God blesses us and makes our work in the Lord a success if we keep the faith and endure, but success in the eyes of the world is not what's meant--they have their reward in this life (cf. Psalm 17:14), but ours is in heaven.  We are, therefore, to endure with patience the race set before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus (cf. Heb. 12:1).

The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints guarantees that we won't lose our salvation, but it doesn't ensure we won't lose our full reward or be disqualified (cf. 1 Cor. 9:27; 1 Cor. 3:15).  "We must never, never give up" (in the words of Winston Churchill) and never quit but endure the hardship we are faced with, though it be a bucket of tears--it's always too soon to quit!

We may be tempted to compromise our integrity or to break faith, but we must go on from faith to faith (cf. Rom. 1:16).  That means faith is the essence and we believe that God is working on our behalf and we cannot lose or are in a win-win situation.  We may be tempted to deny Christ, or not to take a stand on His behalf, but we must keep the faith regardless.  No matter what the world dishes out we must be able to roll with the punches; we're not called to grin and bear it like a Stoic, but to see the reward hopefully, and to endure joyfully.

Jesus never encouraged people to follow Him; in fact, He did all He could to discourage them and to count the cost of signing up for life.  It wasn't something you give a whirl or make a short-term contract with, but a permanent transaction of becoming a child of God with all the consequences as well as blessings (divine discipline or chastisement and reward).  You don't just "try Jesus" but you must be willing to commit your life to Him much like a marriage where you commit to a lifelong contract. You don't experiment with Him or accept Him on a trial basis!  Jesus wasn't looking for admirers or sidekicks, but followers and worshipers who love Him and prove it by obedience.

The final goal is the smile of God, and He does so when we joyfully walk in His will and are obedient.  "True holiness is doing the will of God with a smile," (Mother Teresa).  The "joy of the Lord is [our] strength," according to Nehemiah 8:10; it's something the world cannot take away, as we are commanded to rejoice always.

The choice is clear:  We are either for Christ or against Him; there's no middle ground of neutrality. Persecution is part of the deal or the package that we signed up for and the deal is for a lifetime:  All who are godly shall suffer persecution.  It's like a  feather in your cap or crown on your head when you've been mocked or ridiculed for your faith and you know you've spoken out for Christ as His witness to a dark world.

 The goal is to please God; "The LORD takes pleasure in his people..." (Psalm 149:4, ESV).  We ought to rejoice in tribulation:  Cf. Rom. 5:3!   The caveat in tribulations:  Keep your eyes on Jesus, not yourself, the world, nor others--no matter how tempting.  Soli Deo Gloria!  

Where's The Joy?

"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold"  (Job 23:10, NIV).  

"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete"  (John 15:11, NIV).  

"He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps"  (Psalm 40:2, NKJV).

If you are a melancholy believer, or one who seems glum, sullen, or dejected, in the pits, in a depressed funk, despondent, or have the doldrums, and don't know how to snap out of it you are a bad advertisement for Christianity, if you're really happy and full of joy, tell your face!  There may be periods of depression when one wallows in self-pity, has a pity party, or withdraws, (even Elijah got depressed), but one must learn how to bounce out of it.  Paul exhorts us in Philippians 4:4 to "rejoice in the Lord always."  " Nehemiah says "... [The] joy of the LORD is your strength." There are some key elements to finding joy amidst the hard times--and He does make us experience hardship:  "You have fed them of the bowl of tears, You have given them tears to drink in great measure"  (Psalm 80:5, NKJV).

This is to develop our character to mold it after Christ's image, which cannot mature without adversity, hardship, discipline, trials, and even temptation--but remember Christ was honest enough to warn us and they are inevitable as a "coming of age" spiritually.  Christ didn't exempt Himself from trouble, and our "crosses" pale in comparison to His.   If you don't know why you are suffering or you think you don't deserve it, be like Job and throw a spiritual fit and cry out to God with your case and complaint.  It's okay to throw a spiritual temper tantrum or fit! Some people are just more vulnerable to getting the blues or even depression, but this doesn't need to define who you are.

There is a methodology or method to the madness, for rebounding from depression, when it is time to seek the Lord and His presence--there is a time and season for every purpose under the sun.  God is in the business of sharing His joy!  When we sin and grieve the Spirit it can show and spread like wildfire.   Every believer has been called to do God's work and if he knows his calling, he can find joy in doing the Lord's will and in being in the Lord's will. There's always joy in doing God's work with a smile and finding fulfillment in that.  When you live for something bigger than yourself you will have a different perspective on life.  Real living begins when we commence serving others and get our eyes off ourselves.  We shouldn't just exist, but live!  Work for something in life that will outlast it.  If you know how God uses you and what your spiritual gift is, you are on the way to finding joy in the Lord and knowing how to spread it as a messenger of the good news with a positive testimony.

When we are in a depressed funk, or "downcast" as Psalm 42 and 43 call it, God seems to be MIA and we need to seek the face of God. We are to seek the Lord and His face or presence.  The whole business of the Christian life is to seek God, not just when we feel down.  Even Job wondered about the whereabouts of God: "Oh, that I knew where I might find Him"  (cf. Job 23:3).  God is never far from each one of us according to Acts 17:27.  He may be no further than the mention of His name! Did He not promise:  "... Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:20, ESV). Remember that where ever two or three are gathered together in His name, that Jesus promises to be among them (cf. Matt. 18:20).  The Holy Spirit dwells in us to be our Comforter and Enabler to live in His power and to overcome trials and the enemy.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd who seeks His lost sheep and brings them to green pastures and to give them rest.

It is a joy to see God at work in others and to share in the blessings by association.  This is an encouragement for us to do the Lord's will and to be profitably engaged in spreading the Word. There is vicarious joy, just like parents relive their childhoods through their children. Remember, we are all on the same team and we must know the real enemy, the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (cf. 1 Pet. 5:7).  We learn to "rejoice with those who rejoice" (cf. Romans 12:15).

We really must learn to find joy despite our circumstances and to be strong in our faith, for the Lord must test our faith:  "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction" (Isaiah 48:10, ESV).   God wants to see if it is genuine and will stand the test of time, and isn't a facade, sham, or masquerade--only sincere, even if imperfect, faith will do.  Learn to rise to the occasion and above your circumstances:  Experience is not what happens to you, but what happens in you! Paul was in prison and rejoiced in the Lord with such testimony with Silas that the jailer got converted in Acts 16.

Joy is contagious and a great testimony, and that is more motive to seek it to be a light and river of life to others, who need to be encouraged.  This is so that we acknowledge joy in the Lord, not in circumstances, which can change.  Joy is something on the inside that is not dependent on happenings like happiness is.  Paul learned to be content in whatever situation he found himself in (cf. Philippians 4:13).

When you know God is with you, everything becomes bearable and that is one of Christ's names:  "God with us." Also, it is written in Isaiah 43:2 (ESV):  "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you ...."   We are to seek the Lord and His presence "as a deer pants for flowing water, so my soul pants for [God]" (Psalm 42:1, ESV).  Mother Teresa of Calcutta, now canonized, says that "true holiness consists of doing God's will with a smile." That is, if we are happy, we should tell our faces!  Soli Deo Gloria!

Showing Your Colors

Ponder the correlation between suffering and glory, realizing one unique trait of Christianity--meaning in suffering (no cross, no crown):

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us"  (Romans 8:28, ESV).

"I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation [suffering] and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus..." (Revelation 1:9, ESV).

"... [And] saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God"  (Acts 14:22, ESV).

"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance"  (Romans 5:3, ESV).

"... [And] a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed"  (1 Peter 5:1, ESV).

"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you"  (1 Peter 5:10, ESV).

There will come a moment of truth for every believer before he is really seasoned and confirmed in the faith--when he makes his stand for Jesus.  This is not just confessing Him as Lord, but sticking up for what He stands for and risking something in the process--becoming a "confessor."  Jesus did say that we should consider the cost of discipleship and He didn't promise us a bed of roses.  In fact, He did all He could to discourage halfhearted admirers, of which there were many; however, these are not those he sought--we are not sidekicks or buddies of Christ, but worshipers and followers (a rare commodity).

The Christian way goes against the grain and is counter-cultural since we claim to know the only way to eternal life.  We would be egotistical if it was just us claiming this; however, Christ, Himself, made the claim of being the exclusive way to the Father--and He tolerates no rivals. This doesn't mean we are intolerant, which is the only vice modern man sees and they categorize believers as being.

We are called to bear a cross as believers and this doesn't mean as a fashion statement, but to be willing to suffer all and even give the ultimate sacrifice of our lives.  To be willing to go to our cross for Christ's sake, we must be absolutely convinced in our own minds:  "I know whom I have believed, and am convinced ..." (cf. 2 Tim. 1:12).  However, don't have a martyr's complex, thinking that the more you suffer, the better believe you are--and do not seek persecution or even be offensive as a person, because the offense should be in the cross.

We don't have to take the loyalty oath that first-century believers did to Caesar confessing, "Caesar is lord," but in everyday life, we are always being tested as to our devotion to Christ, and Satan is tempting us not to make Him first place in our priorities.  One reason we are to welcome suffering as friends is that it is all Father-filtered, which means God-approved, and it is guaranteed to work out for our best in the end (cf. Rom. 8:28).  God turns curses into blessings (cf. Gen. 50:20).  As they say, "Behind every cloud, there's a silver lining."

People don't turn their backs on Christ suddenly, but slowly, as they drift away and gradually lose their first love and devotion to Christ. Paul longed to participate in the "fellowship of His sufferings" (cf. Phil. 3:10).  The early disciple was glad that they were "considered worthy" of suffering for Christ's sake, to glorify Him.

How does this happen?  We run into everyday situations and conflicts that give us the opportunity to defend a Christian worldview or to preach the gospel, and we are not to be ashamed to own our Lord.  Actually, the more you stick up for Christ, the stronger your faith becomes.  As Paul said to the Philippians 1:29 (NKJV):  "For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake."   

There is a downside to letting people know you're a believer:  They watch your every move and listen to what you say to look for hypocrisy.  They seem to think that if you don't live up to your faith, that this nullifies it and God isn't real.  It only proves your faith isn't real, not that God isn't real. They hate hypocrites and won't go to church because they think it's full of them, yet they go to the golf club and play with hypocrites all the time and don't give it a second thought.  You will want to keep your reputation and the pressure is high as you live under a microscope of observation.  But there is no alternative because there are no secret agent believers who refuse to stand up for Jesus.

The world will approve your faith and won't object to anything unless it is pushed on them--they call evangelizing a way of forcing your viewpoints.  They don't object to anything as long as you "privatize" it!  But we are called to preach the gospel and be salt and light in the world, not to stand by and let the devil have his way.  We need a thick skin and to be certain of our faith (and assurance of salvation is not an automatic fruit), to be able to withstand the fiery darts of the evil one (with assured faith and the helmet of salvation). Tertullian of Carthage, second-century church father, said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

As Esther said, she was born "for such a time as this" (cf. Esther 4:14, NKJV).  We are not to wear our religion on our sleeve, as it were, as an excuse, but to live righteous and holy lives that God can use as a witness to a dark world blinded by Satan.  In other words, we don't go out of our way to "advertise" that we are Christians, like carrying banners but to let Christ open the door no one can close in His timing.

We must absolutely aim to give God the glory and not to seek fame or take the credit ourselves, because He is the Potter and we are the clay and He is using us as vessels of honor for His own plan and purpose   But one thing I can tell you from experience, is that you shouldn't doubt the wisdom of God, that He can make the most unpleasant events turn out for the good and we will praise Him in the end.  It is only because He is trusting us with this trial and it is an honor to be tested.

We need to anticipate being used by God, and be prepared to defend the faith, contend for the faith, according to our faith.  We all have a shot at greatness and God only holds us responsible for what He gives us:  "to much is given, much is required."  As John Milton said in Paradise Regained, "Who best can suffer, best can do."  Jesus suffered more than anyone and our crosses pale in comparison; He isn't asking us to do anything He didn't do.

We should live in light of eternity and the final declaration of Christ saying, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."  God doesn't care about our bucket list, but in us completing His will before we check out, as it is written: "For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption"  (Acts 13:36, ESV).   Soli Deo Gloria!