Tonight, we move from the church whose love had grown cold to the church whose persecution was about to grow hot. Nobody likes trials, tests or persecution and yet, what we find in Scripture is that these things are never random, while they feel like they are happening to us, God works in such a way that they end up being things done for us. In the midst of incredible trials, Jesus comforted the church at Smyrna with the promise that He knew. He knew them, their works, their trouble, their lack and their abundance. He knew what they were about to go through and in knowing He was present with them and He was going to stay with them. But as He comforted them, Jesus gave them two commands. Satan was going to throw some of them in prison, they would all face great tribulation, their task in all of it is to not be afraid and to remain faithful. Those are the two tasks we are all called to, In fact, if we spent less time on the specific and worked more on our hearts, focusing each day on resisting fear and staying faithful, the specific things we wrestle with would become more clear. They sound simple, but they may be the most difficult tasks we ever face.