One thing that brings me comfort is that not all of God's followers are called to suffer to the same degree. Shortly after I became a Christian, someone gave me Fox's Book of Martyrs, and the stories just terrified me! Others may have found comfort in the courage of the ancient saints, but all I gained was a dreadful terror that being a Christian was an open invitation for all wicked people to torture me!
Now that I am older, I have come to see that not all of us are called to be martyrs, and that imprisonment and torture is not the automatic destiny for all Christians. Unfortunately my childhood denomination is obsessed with such torture stories of the righteous, but I have since discovered that the Bible paints a far rosier picture for the future destiny of saints. If all you have ever heard is that to be a Christian is to suffer, then please reconsider that the Bible is full of stories of God's people triumphing mightily over their hostile enemies.
The book of Esther is a promise that the death sentence our enemies place upon us will be transformed by God into a great celebration of life and rejoicing, while our enemies perish! Esther 9:1-19
The book of Nehemiah is a promise that when we are called like Nehemiah to rebuild God's ruins, we will greatly succeed, even if many enemies try to stop us.
The book of Ruth promises us that when famine comes upon the world, our God will bring His hungry people to fields of plenty.
The book of Judges tells us that just one or two courageous warrior saints can bring YEARS worth of peace and prosperity to entire nations. Judges 8:28
The book of Exodus tells us that our God is willing to perform great and mighty miracles to deliver us from even the strongest of enemies. Exodus 14:5-31
The book of Acts encourages us us that even when persecution came to the Early Church in Jerusalem, it was still perfectly safe for the twelve Apostles to remain in that troubled city. Acts 8:1 & 15:1,2 Just because you are a Christian does NOT automatically mean you must suffer horrible persecution.
