As the persecution of the Church continues to increase, we as Christians need to remember that nothing can happen outside of the Lord's will. This not only means that the Lord can deliver us from persecution, but will greatly reward us for enduring anything that He does not directly save us from.
An excellent example of this is that of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, 3 Jews who utterly refused to bow to the golden image which Nebuchadnezzar had commanded the kingdom to bow to, on pain of death. And so Nebuchadnezzar threatened them, saying "But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?" (Daniel 3:15).
A fiery furnace is not the kind of death I hope is in my future. And seeing the shock on people's faces when they see how fast I can down a fresh, hot coffee, I imagine most people agree. This particular fire was hotter than most others. So hot, in fact, that the men who put the three into it actually died just being near it (Daniel 3:22).
But even being given the chance to obey the king where previously they had disobeyed, they answered him "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up." (Daniel 3:17, emphasis added).
There is no greater show of faith! For one thing, they still acknowledged Nebuchadnezzar's status as king. There were no disrespectful slurs or accusations of being a pretender to the throne. Just full, Romans 13 style submission, even before Romans 13 was written. How many of us could achieve that in the face of such a tyrant? We, who have grown accustomed to the freedom of speech, bought for us by the blood, sweat, and tears of many brave men and women, are often the first to declare the illegitimacy of rulers with whom we disagree. And yet God tells us that He has set up these rulers for a reason, and that we are to pray for and submit to them. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego did not even have the New Testament to tell them this, and yet they still showed a more Godly attitude towards Nebuchadnezzar, even in the face of death, than we, as modern Christians, often care to show to our leaders. And I'm preaching to myself here, too, as I certainly have little control over my tongue when my government commits injustice.
But these three Jews submitted to a higher authority than Nebuchadnezzar in this scenario, because as much as they acknowledged his authority as king, they knew he was still only a man, not a god. And so what power did he hold? They knew that it was better to obey God and leave the earth in a painful way than to disobey Him and remain. The fury of God is not worth facing. It's not even worth comparing. By comparison, what can man do to you?
There is a saying, though regrettably I'm not sure who by. "You can take my head, for I have a God who can give me a new one." Man can do nothing to you because there is nothing they can take from you that the Lord cannot repay a thousand times. In fact, by persecuting you, the only thing man can do is increase your reward. Therefore, when you face persecution for your faith, face it as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. Face it knowing that God is in control. He can save you, but in the event that He doesn't, praise Him anyway. It's more than worth it in the end.