Much of persecution aims to make us feel isolated and alone. God designed us to live in community with Him and one another, so being ostracized can cause great stress for most people. That is why going with the crowd rarely leads to any persecution. So long as you are in the flow, the world will readily accept you and you’ll be relatively safe.
As soon as you swim against the tide, however, you can easily feel like you are the only person fighting the battle. Isolation is mentally wearing on us, and those who would persecute you will do everything to exploit this. The good news is that in Christ, we are never alone. That’s not some spiritual triteness, it is a Biblical certainty in which we can find comfort, rest, peace, and hope.
Deuteronomy 31:6 reminds us to “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” When persecution comes, none of us could stand except for the strength of God. There’s no way any of us can stand up for long on our own. But we’re not on our own. The Lord promises He will never leave us. When we are afraid, we need only remember that He is going before us. He will keep you safe in His arms and never let you go. We can rest in His constant presence and faithfulness.
In our humanness, we will be afraid. That fear need not be crippling, though. Through the prophet Isaiah, God told us long ago that He will strengthen us and be our help (Isaiah 41:10). On our own, we will fail, but in Christ, we will prevail. Though we might be afraid, we will not be abandoned because, with Christ, we are never alone.
We can take comfort in knowing Jesus assured His disciples that He would always be with them (Matthew 28:20). No matter what we are going through, Jesus is present with us. He sees and knows everything being threatened against us or done to us. He is not fazed and neither should we be. Put all your confidence and faith in Jesus, our Lord. The Lord is our helper. Men cannot touch our souls. Jesus has dominion there and he will deliver us into eternal life.
Even when we are walking through our darkest valleys and we don’t know where to turn, we are never alone. God is there. He will guide and protect us (Psalm 23:4). Remember, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). Nothing in this world can pry us out of God’s hands. Nothing in the demonic and spiritual realm can separate us from the all-powerful God. No matter what happens down here, we will be with Jesus when we die. The Lord is with us every second that we live, He is with us in our death, and He will remain with us throughout all eternity. He is our refuge and our strength (Psalm 46:1; Psalm 91:2-5). We are never alone.