Police Devotion 10-22-15
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
The Bible doesn’t say that people who know Jesus as Saviour are spared from trials and tribulations that others go through. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 5:45, “…he [God] maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” God sometimes allows His people to have problems like unsaved people have. In fact, the Bible even indicates that people who know Jesus as Saviour and strive to live for Him and please Him are likely to have additional problems due to their Christian testimony: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12). Of course, the easy way to avoid persecution is not to live for Christ, but that would be spiritually cowardly and wouldn’t please the Lord.
Back to the idea of how God “…maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Since God doesn’t always keep troubles from happening to those who are saved, then it must be also fair to say that officers who know Jesus as Saviour are just as likely as those who don’t know Jesus to go through the tough times that cops go through. Cops who are saved can be involved in shootings. They can be sued. They can have frivolous complaints lodged against them. They can have their names unfairly smeared in the media. They can be involved in accidents or mishaps and suffer injury. They can be made into sacrificial lambs by dirty politics. They can be assaulted and spit upon. They can be subjected to all the large and small aggravations from outside the department and from inside. They can have problems befall them that aren’t their fault, just like any other officer.
The difference with saved cops is that we have a source of comfort and help that unsaved cops don’t: the Lord Jesus himself. When people who know Jesus go through a tough time, God “…comforteth us in all our tribulation…” He doesn’t promise to keep us from problems, but He does promise to be with us through them: “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.” (Isaiah 43:2). When you know Jesus as Saviour, He comforts you in tough times with His presence and with the precious promises of His Word: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10).
God also promises that when the trial is over, you will be better for His service than before. Job went through a terrible trial, but he trusted the Lord to get him through. He said, “But he [God] knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10). If you’ve been through dangerous or difficult situations on the job, you’re better equipped to help other cops who go through the same thing later. So God “…comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:4). So when you know Jesus as Saviour and you’re going through some trial, the Lord is with you to help you and “refine” you like gold, so that you can turn around and help someone else going through a trial.
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Brian Miller
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822