Suffering
“We are truly combatants in a fierce war. Satan is a very real foe, determined to do whatever is necessary to destroy the Church that is purchased by the precious, spotless Blood of Jesus Christ. Unable to injure God, Satan lashes out at God’s children. Many Western believers feel confused when they hear of Christians suffering such vile treatment at the hands of evil men, because of the false theology that pervades many Western churches, that if we live for God, only good things and blessings will result in our lives. Such thinking is contrary to Scripture and inconsistent with the experiences of millions of Christians down through the centuries, who lived wholeheartedly for God yet were “stoned; they were sawn in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated the world was not worthy of them.” (Hebrews 11:37-38)”
Paul Hattaway from China - An Examination of the Eastern Lightning Cult - When China’s Christians Wish They Were in Prison, from the section: Christians Don’t Lose Heart
