Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
(Hebrews 12:3-4)
We are not surprised by this; we
should not be surprised. This is
how it is, has always been:
what Jonah learnt beneath the palm
when Ninevah was spared and sun
burnt upon his skull
is true today – although it aches.
What mercy poured into those walls –
a city spared, but soon a foe –
is pouring day by day, and yet
it is not always seen by us;
it is not always known.
My comfort drives my knees to pray;
your loss, your anguish angers me.
What right have I to speak of this?
What can I know of Ninevah?
Yet I too have my foes; I hide
from judgment and the sun.
This fiery trial will seize us all;
to some it scalds, yet others sing
with joy to be thought worthy of
the pains of Christ. And so should we
who hide in comfort, sing with you,
long with you for His day.
The Consolations of Writing 