A Devotion from John Chrysostom

[Moses] regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.  —Hebrews 11:26

If we too always see God with our minds, if we always think in remembrance of him, all things will appear endurable to us, all things will appear tolerable. For if people, remembering one whom they love, are roused in spirit and elevated in thought and bear all things easily, we who remember him who loves us in deed, when will we feel anything painful, or dread anything fearful or dangerous? When will we be of cowardly spirit? Never.

Things appear difficult to us because we do not remember God as we ought, because we do not carry him about always in our thoughts. For great is the effect of God’s remembrance and great also of his being remembered by us. The result of the one is that we choose good things, of the other that we accomplish them and bring them to their purpose.

Therefore let us also, as being in Babylon, [remember him]. For although we are not sitting among warlike foes, yet we are among enemies. For some indeed were sitting as captives, but others did not even feel their captivity, as Daniel, as the three children, who became in that very country more glorious even than the king who had carried them captive. Do you see how great virtue is? When they were in actual captivity he waited on them as masters. He therefore was the captive rather than they. Do you see that the really splendid things are those that relate to God, whereas human things are a shadow? The king knew not, it seems, that he was leading away masters for himself and that he cast into the furnace those whom he was about to worship.

Let us fear God, beloved; even should we be in captivity, we are more glorious than all rulers. Let the fear of God be present with us and nothing will be grievous, even though you speak of poverty or disease, of captivity or slavery, or of any other grievous thing. Even these very things will themselves work together for us the other way. These men were captives, and the king worshiped them.