How do you respond to obstacles and persecution? We can learn from the apostles in Acts 4:23-31 in how immediately after being released from prison they sought support from their friends and they allowed the Holy Spirit to minister to and empower them to continue on.

1. Who are you going to? Be wise in who you’re giving your ear to. Good friends are those who help you walk in the way of the Lord and sharpen you. “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” Proverbs 13:20

2. What are you telling yourself? What we proclaim over ourselves matters. Don’t focus on the severity of your problem, but focus on the sovereignty of God. “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” Colossians 1:16

3. What power are you walking in? The apostles asked God for strength to endure, not for the persecution to go away. We need this divine perspective and truth. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33