by Haden Hodge, Hurricane High School


My name is Haden Hodge, and I am a 15-year-old going into my junior year at Hurricane High School.  I am a devout Christian.  My belief in Christianity is the foundation of every belief I have.  Everything I believe in stems from my Christian beliefs.  This is not what the world likes to hear.  Nor should I expect it to be.  John 18:36 records Jesus claiming His kingdom is not of this world.  John 12:31 says that the devil is the prince of this world.  Humans are born with the desire to sin.  This stems all the way back to Adam and Eve. Sin arrived into the world through them, making us subject to living in the realm of sin. 

This world does not want me, or anyone, to be a Christian.  And the devil does everything in his power to tear us away from our faith.  He will take the ones we love, cause us to be persecuted, and try and hurt us in every way.  And, sadly, he is good at what he does. 

I heard in a message at my church one time that the devil doesn't do much.  All he has to do is plant one lie and let us run with it.  We take everything to the worst possibility.  All he has to do is give us one lie, and it's up to us to catch the lie or run with it and make it worse. 

From what I have seen in the world, the devil's favorite lie is to tell us that anything bad that happens is God's fault.  God allowed this to happen, God made this happen, God is all-powerful, but He didn't do anything to stop this from happening.  We hear these lies and we get mad at God, blaming Him for the bad things that happen in our lives.  But we know the devil loves to lie.  John 10:10 says that it is the enemy who comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but the Lord comes to give Life.   At church camp this summer, there was a pastor who had lost his arm in an accident at his job.  He blamed God for a long time.  But he taught us that if we ever have something that is stolen, killed, or destroyed, God is not the one to blame.  

That is the greatest challenge.  Singling out the lies.  Seeking the truth.  We live in a world that claims that truth is relative.  There is your truth and my truth.  Whatever you want to believe is true.  But Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life.  Did you catch it?  Jesus did not say "I am my truth" or " I am your truth."  He is the truth.  The truth is hard to find on our own.  We will fail almost every time. 

But Jesus gives us the easiest way to find it.  Him.  He said He is the truth. Whatever He says is true.  And as Christians, we believe Jesus wrote the whole Bible, He just used people to do it.  So everything the Bible says is true.  If we ever hear anything contrary to what the Bible says, we know it is false.  We know that everything that is against the Bible is against you.  That is the biggest challenge. 

My greatest triumph is my greatest challenge.  The greatest challenge is the lies.  The lies the devil tells you.  The devil will attack you using the world.  He will use the world to tell you lies.  So the world attacking you is the greatest challenge because the world attacks you with lies.  I tried to get a bill passed and made into law that allowed teachers to discuss intelligent design in the classroom.  I got nothing but backlash from the world. 

People were being horrible to me, calling me names and personally attacking me and my family.  News sites were writing my name in papers which only led people to be even worse to me and my family.  This seems discouraging or burdensome, and for many, it is.  But I could not have been happier.  I was proud to get the hatred from the world.  I was happy the world hated me.  Why?  Because I am not trying to please the world.  Galatians 1:10 says that those who try and please the world are not children of God.  When the world is mad, God is happy. 

And I know that the devil is not going to attack those that are doing the wrong thing.  If I am sinning, the devil won't attack me near as much as a Christian.  The devil is trying to keep people from Heaven.  If I am not on the way to Heaven, the devil will not attack me as much.  But here I was, getting attacked harder than ever before, which just made me smile because I was on the right path. 

But the main reason I could stay happy during this challenge was why I titled this paper the way I did.  Matthew 5:10.  "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  No need to say anything else.  The verse speaks for itself.  My greatest triumph is my greatest challenge.  The attacks.  The lies.  All of it.  That is my triumph.  Because that is my confirmation of righteousness.