Promise we wish would be broken

You ever met anybody who always breaks their promise. My kids accuse me all the time of promising them we are going to do something (like going to the pool, playing horsies, or cars) and then not following through. It kills me to know that I sometimes bite off more than I can chew and say yes to more than I can fulfill. You ever do that? That is definitley an area of my life that I need to surrender more and more to Jesus. You see God always keeps His promises and most of the time that is a good thing for you and me. For example, He promises us in I Cor 10:13 that He will never let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. In I John 5:11-13 He promises us assurance of eternal life, In Rom. 8:37-39 we are promised that nothing can seperate us from His love and in Lam 3:22-23 He promises that every morning His mercies are renewed......and the list goes on and on. In my reading this morning I came across a promise that didn't excite me at all. It was actually quite unwelcomed in my happy little devotional time. In II Tim 3:12, we are promised that if we follow Christ and desire to live Godly we WILL BE persectued. WHAT?!! Doesn't this go against everything we hear so many times. If we follow Jesus won't life be easy and we will be rich, happy and healthy , good looking, accepted, top of the class and cool. The average Christian runs as far from Christ at the first sound of turmoil or strife. I know in my life when things start to get tough, relationships aren't working, money is tight, temptations bombard my life, I feel like I must be doing something wrong or that God is mad at me...... The truth is sometimes the persecution we face is self-inflicted but today I want us to see that persecution shouldn't be something we hear about only on the missionary websites or see the church in Asia or the middle East face. It is something that is promised to everybody who follows Christ. Even teenagers who are seeking to live Godly lives out in their schools, homes and communities. The next time you are rejected for following Christ, left out for being too fanatical and actually living out your faith beyond the walls of your church, or for praying other than at dinner...swallow the persecution and somehow smile for God is fulfulling a promise and that is something He is perfect at.