When you're shot as God's messenger

Ever heard the phrase "don't shoot the messenger?" Unfortunately for us, it doesn't seem to apply to God's messengers, as from the beginning of time, God's messengers have been shot.

Moses is an excellent example. One could hardly deny Moses was a mere messenger. Aside from originally making so many excuses specifically to not be a messenger that God actually gave Him Aaron as a spokesperson (Exodus 4:14), God had actually been clearly visible in one form or another to the Israelites throughout the Exodus.

But still they complained not against God, but against Moses. "You have brought us here to kill us." All the while, there's this giant pillar of fire and smoke standing right there. So Moses says "what are we?" (Himself and Aaron). And indeed, what are we? We're mere humans. We don't get to decide what God wants, it's just on us to obey.

But just as the Israelites railed against Moses as if he was God, so do our unbelieving and heretical friends rail against us as if we were God. The mere fact that we believe the Bible results in large amounts of hate, followed by "why would you believe that doctrine? Wouldn't it be better if..."

But there's a reason we're the ones receiving the hate. In John 15:18, Jesus tells us that the world hates us because it hated Him first. But what can the world do to God? Nothing. The world has to attack us because it's not like they could stand for half a nanosecond in front of God and make the same threats.

But Peter has some excellent advice for you: If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. (1 Peter 4:14). There is only one loser in persecution, and it is not the persecuted. When a Christian is persecuted, he is storing up treasures in Heaven far greater than anything he could possibly imagine losing on the earth. As the saying goes, "You can take my head, because I have a God who can give me a new one."