Don’t Panic
Intro
This Midget Gem is inspired by the song “Don’t Panic”. You can listen to the song by clicking on the play button.
Bible bit
As part of The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said in Matt 5:11 – 12 ‘People will say bad things about you and hurt you. They will lie and say all kinds of evil things about you because you follow me. But when they do these things to you, you are happy. Rejoice and be glad. You have a great reward waiting for you in heaven. People did the same things to the prophets who lived before you.’
Persecution
God doesn’t promise bad things won’t happen but He does promise to always be there for us.
Sometimes it is hard being a Christian, especially if we are the only one standing up for Jesus and living how He wants us to. Christians of all ages, all around the world, are persecuted in some way from being called names to being put to death for their faith.
What does God say?
When people do or say hurtful things and say things that are untrue because you love Jesus, it is good to remind yourself of what God says about you in the Bible. You need to know the truth so you can stand firm in it and not be wobbled. If you are a Christian you belong to God’s Kingdom, God is on your side and He will come through for you and be there for you, no matter how bad it gets, so you can praise Him anyway!
Reaction challenge
Next time, turn to God straight away and receive the comfort and peace He wants to give you and just think of God holding you in His arms of love!
We can put our trust in our great big powerful God who is in charge and bigger than anything we could face.
Love and Forgive
Also, God wants us to love these people with the love He gives us.
Check out what Jesus says about this in Matthew 5: 44 – 45.
And He wants us to forgive those who have hurt us, even if they are not sorry. Remember in the Lord’s Prayer we ask God to forgive us in the same way we forgive others!
Keep showing it!
The ‘Don’t Panic’ song ends by encouraging us to keep telling people about Jesus by our words and by the way we live our lives. What you do and say and how you react has an effect on the lives of people around you. At some point in their lives what you do and say now to show you love Jesus could have a part in bring them to Jesus!
Psalm writing challenge
The writers of the Psalms were often going through tough times because they belonged to God but if you read them (e.g. Psalm 42) you’ll see they also knew that they could trust God to bring them through.
Have a go at writing your own psalm telling God about a tough situation you went through or are going through, remembering to thank Him for being with you in it and loving you.
Support the Persecuted
There are a number of Christian organisations who help, support and encourage prayer for persecuted Christians around the world. How about finding out more about them and supporting them in some way? Let me know what how you get on and what you are going to do to help.