Coming Comfort

With the focus on China this week, the Bible holds a sweet prophecy that is good to know. Although China’s Communist dictatorship has been a ruthless persecutor of Christianity, the number of Believers in China today exceed their persecutors. China has imprisoned Christians, destroyed their homes; banned the Bible (except their corrupted version) and every Bible App, and forced children from Christian homes to publicly denounce their faith in public schools.

But the love of God, the Word of God, and the Spirit of God, cannot be bound. The Scriptures give honorable mention to the persecuted Believers of China at Christ’s return…  “You are a Light to the nations, that You may be My salvation to the ends of the earth… I will give You to be a Covenant of the people, to establish the earth… that You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth!’ … Behold, these shall come from afar, and look! These from the north and west; and these from the land of Sinim (China)” (Isaiah 49).

If we wonder why China and other godless countries fear Christ so much, it’s because God warned world rulers of their coming accountability to Him (Psalm 2). Oppressors will be “dashed in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” God instructs them to be wise while they have time, choosing to “serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.” 

The same chapter of Isaiah that mentions China by name, describes how creation erupts in song as Christ frees the oppressed of every nation… “Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth! Break forth into singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people and will have mercy upon His afflicted.”

There is no surge of joy to weary hearts like the promise of Christ’s return. Let us pray for the persecuted and comfort one another with the promises of our coming King.

(Devotional by Lisa Cataford)