

Weekly Reading - Expect Opposition
10As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
13When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up.
All throughout the bible, when we see men of God sent or arrive in a certain area, it won't be long before opposition arrives as well, if it is already not present. Many Christian workers today think something is going wrong or that they are doing something wrong when they face opposition regarding their work. If we were to follow the bible's pattern, it clearly shows that the enemy does not like it when God's people move in to preach the gospel. Anywhere God's workers are found, if they are truly preaching what the bible teaches, there is bound to be
opposition not far off and I would go so far as to say that if you are experiencing this phenomenon, take it as a sign that things are actualy going well.
The devil is not going to concern himself with people who are bone-idle. If they are not doing anything to advance Jesus' kingdom then he simply will not bother them, he has no need to, they aren't doing anything anyway. He will however do all he can to combat a person or movement he see's as a threat. Jesus Christ being preached is something the devil cannot stand. The church of the bible thrived in the midst of great conflicts and attempts to stop the spread of the gospel. But they too took it as a sign that all was going well.
If we don't want to see any persecution or trouble come our way, then we need to stay out of any sort of Christian work. I encourage you today that no matter what opposition you are facing, continue in it with even greater fervour, God will help you through and the devil will see just how God's people face opposition.