Reading Jon Johnston's article set my mind to thinking about other persons who met great challenges and did not fold when the going got rough or the work grew dangerous. There was Nehemiah who might have ceased and desisted in his wall-building if he had listened to the threats hurled at him by his opponents (Nehemiah 6:3). But he did not. There was Esther who could have refused to lay her life on the line before the king in order to save her people (Esther 4:1-17). But she did not. And there were Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, and others whom the author of Hebrews lists in his roll call of the heroes of faith who "through faith conquered kingdoms" and accomplished many other notable exploits (Hebrews 11:32-38).

Included also in that list are nameless others of whom the author writes, "the world was not worthy of them" (v. 38), who suffered awful miseries and were commended for their faith because they did not buckle under pressure. There was the father of them all, Abraham, who did not flinch when God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac, the very son who had been promised as the one through whom God's redemptive plan for the world would be fulfilled (Genesis 22:1-3; Hebrews 11:17-18). Crunch time has surely arrived when God's commands seemingly contradict God's own promises. But Abraham obeyed the command, leaving the fulfillment of the promise in God's own hands.

Church history is replete with other examples. Consider just two: Martin Luther, who could have recanted his beliefs when on trial and avoided hiding out in the Wartburg Castle for the next two years, and John Wesley, who could have given up when his mission to Georgia ended in failure. In our own day there are Christians in many places around the world who are being persecuted for their faith. May God give them the grace and strength to endure, and may we all take courage from their examples. Jesus who cried out from the Cross "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46), could also say from the same Cross, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46).

We must remember whose disciples we are and what it is he calls us to be and to do.

For those who may have forgotten, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it" (Matthew 16:24-25).

Rob L. Staples is professor of theology emeritus at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City.

Please note: All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of original publication but may have since changed.