Persecution in Seeking the Lord

Scripture:

I opened for my beloved,
But my beloved had turned away and was gone.
My heart leaped up when he spoke.
I sought him, but I could not find him;
I called him, but he gave me no answer.
The watchmen who went about the city found me.
They struck me, they wounded me;
The keepers of the walls

Took my veil away from me.
Song of Songs 5:6-7

Observation: In this section of this poem, the Shulamite (the female) is seeking the Beloved (the male). She thought she heard his call - that he had knocked at the door and called out to her to come to him - but when she went to the door he wasn't there, and so she went out looking for him. While out, she is found by the watchmen who keep order in the streets at night, and is punished for being out. Guards charged with keeping strangers out of the city remove her veil, the discrete covering of her face, and watchmen charged with keeping order in the streets beat her.

She is a woman who has heard her lord call to her and has gone out to find him. However, those charged with keeping order instead harass, impede, harm, and persecute her.

The poem is of course a metaphor for the relationship between the Lord and his faithful people. The people are called to come to the Lord, but when the faithful go out to find the Lord - whether he be near or far - they are met by those who have been charged by 'the world' to keep 'order'. Despite it being obvious there is no threat (one young and modest women alone), they respond with force, cruelty, and violence in order to prevent her mission. It doesn't stop the believers ... it is nothing more than a momentary setback and never considered again.

Application: Yesterday on social media, my pastor commented about the "persecuted church" ... that it used to be something that happened in other countries, but is coming to the U.S. We can then learn from those in China, India, Iraq - and in the bible in Rome and Ephesus - about how to seek and serve the Lord when society would persecute us for our faith, even to the point of violence.

I am reminded today that this element within our country WILL get worse. I still see the era coming where Christians are marginalized by the culture, our values are declared contradictory to law, and we are excluded from protections. In issues of cultural conflict, violence is rising while calls for legal action also rises, but I believe the Church will be considered outside of such protections, and a resulting target for such violence.

This will be my faith in my old age ... a harmless old man, assaulted (maybe even physically) for simply following Jesus Christ. I believe this already began toward me and my family. My encouragement is that this will be an event to be shrugged off and forgotten, as I continue into the presence of my Lord. My Lord is in his garden, carrying for flocks and flowers. He will meet me and embrace me, nurture me and comfort me, and protect me.

A little persecution is only a sign that I am, in fact, chasing after Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, I have heard your knock and your call, and I will always come after you. I pray for your protection in these days, and in the days to come. However, I also know the world stands opposed to you. May I be so marked as one of your believers that the world opposes me, too. Amen.