“They said to him, ‘Thus says Hezekiah, this day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection; for children have come to birth and there is no strength to deliver.’”
Those who suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ know what it means to be in a state of distress, rebuked and rejected. When God’s children are diligently seeking to live for Christ, it is no surprise that sufferings and persecutions befall them; even brethren persecute brethren. Many ask questions such as, “why is this happening to me” and “am I not living for Christ?” The simplest answer is “we are children of God and are not of this world.”
We suffer because we want to be righteous; we suffer because we work for Jesus Christ; we suffer because we do not want to die, and this is what those who persecute do not know. They do not know, since they have not experienced the God we experienced; they do not know because they work under the administration of their intentions. These are the kind of persecutors Hezekiah faced, people that have not known the Almighty God. While this is the case suffering will be like the day of distress, rebuke and rejection. When the opposition is very strong, a child of God surely lacks the inner strength to defend himself. It would then be as though the child has come to birth, but the woman has no strength to deliver herself from birth pains.