This is not how Kwame envisioned his life would turn out. He had led the pack on life's fast track, excelling in school and business, until he refused to compromise his allegiance to Jesus. Suddenly he was an outcast in an industry he had once dominated. He was startled by how swiftly colleagues turned on him. He complained to friends, and noticed them pulling away. He began spiralling into gloom.

Judah wasn't just spiralling downwards, they had already reached bottom. God begins His sixth and final speech by quoting their cynical words, ″It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty?″ (Malachi 3:14). They believed God hadn't kept His end of the covenant. They obeyed Him, and got nothing. Yet ″evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it″ (v. 15). Their neighbours tested God's patience through disobedience, and yet weren't punished for it.

Judah was stuck in despair. Most of them had given up on serving God and obeying Him. Most, but not all. A beam of light pierces the gloom. ″Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honoured his name″ (v. 16). A faithful remnant remained, and they found each other. They didn't waste energy complaining about the injustice of their plight. They focused on the positive. They encouraged each other by writing down for posterity the names of those who had been faithful and what they had done. And God, who once seemed distant, showed He had been paying attention all along. He ″listened and heard″ (v. 16). And promised to act.

In the short run, anything can happen. We may suffer for following Jesus. But the promise of the long view is guaranteed. On the day of judgment, God promises that ″you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not″ (v. 18). Then you ″will be [His] treasured possession″. God will spare us from condemnation, ″just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him″ (v. 17).

Has your allegiance to Jesus cost you relationships or opportunities? Do you feel the world is against you? You are not alone. God sees you. And He has preserved a faithful remnant, which you'll find in a good, local church. Gather with them for encouragement. Thank them for their love for Jesus, and thank Jesus for them too. The life that is saved may be your own.