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Perhaps you too have served the Lord for many years and have had to contend with many difficulties and disappointments. Jesus made the following promise to His disciples: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).
All servants of God, whether in the Old or New Testament, had to learn to live with such disappointments. We, too, are not spared this. If we sincerely desire to serve God, we must also expect ingratitude and disappointment from those we serve. It is not a pleasant learning experience, but God does not ask us whether or not we want to learn the lessons that are currently in His plan.
I remember how Brother Alexander Konradi, the former presiding bishop of our brotherhood, told me about his special school education.
He became a pastor very early in communist Russia and had to serve during a time of great persecution of Christians. One night he had a dream that greatly astonished him. He dreamt that the entire school was assembled in rows in the schoolyard. Various students were called out and honored or reprimanded in front of everyone else (a common practice in Soviet schools).
Suddenly his name was called, and he had to stand before all the students and received an honor. He was told that because of his excellent grades, he was receiving a special award and would be allowed to attend a very special secondary school for five years. When he told his wife Frida about it the next morning, she immediately understood the meaning of his dream. She told him, "You will be arrested and imprisoned for five years because of your faith." And so it happened. Shortly afterward, Brother Alexander was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison—that was his special education.
His heavily pregnant wife accompanied him to the train station and then traveled into the city where he was being held in a remand prison. She didn't complain or lament, but encouraged him the entire time. She called out to him: "Stay faithful, stay steadfast, give full glory to the name of Christ with your conduct, and don't worry about me and the children. God will provide for us and make everything alright."
Our predecessors went through such a school: internal struggles within their communities, external battles waged by the state, and on top of all that, the great worry for their own families. But they remained faithful and completed their schooling with unwavering confidence.
Let us learn today in God's school everything that God deems necessary for our spiritual growth. I wish all students in God's school abundant blessings and joyful learning, even in the less joyful lessons.
Ernst Fischer (a student in the same school of God)