Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. I Peter 5:6-10
Cynde
The morning brought about many thoughts, as I meditated on a word that I recently heard and then today, it was the same word confirmed through song. While talking to the Lord, I began to discuss with Him some things that were of concern to me. So, you can imagine my joy when these scriptures came to accompany the topic. God does all things well. I have stood on verse 10 over the years as a constant reminder that God has not forgotten me when the circumstances and situations of life and its fiery trials appeared to have overtaken me, that God would yet confirm, strengthen and then establish me.
Sometimes, although the word tells us not to get weary in well doing, we often find ourselves feeling tired, weary, worn, and frustrated especially when things are not as we envisioned or hoped. However, we must remain prayerful and humble and allow God to work in every situation regardless of how we feel, because it is not about our emotions. Even when we are dealing with and observing God’s people, we must oftentimes yield with humility and patience because the enemy is ever present to discourage and dishearten us and we should always be on guard for his tactics, devices, and attacks; they come when we least expect it (2 Cor 2:8-11). It is important we hear that it is necessary to strive and continue to be humble so that God would exalt (promote, elevate, or raise) us in due (expected, proper and appropriate) time. Keeping in mind to humble ourselves under God’s hand because He is the One who is in control of all things and it would be in due time; not in our desired time, but in His own appointed time. It is in the only wise God’s time that all things will work together for His glory and our good.
I love how Peter writes and gives instructions to the people of God to encourage and give direction for this journey. What to do, how to do and what to be aware of; letting us know to be humble in this walk so that God can exalt us in order to continue the work that He has purposed for our lives. Every word written is for our growth and for our making. How else can we possibly become more like Jesus and carry on the mission given to us as believers (Matt 28:18-20)?
Our journey in this life is a process and although we cannot control some of the turbulence it brings, but we do have a constant, steady and mighty hand that keeps us when the storms of life are raging and seemingly uncontrollable. Please know, that the God of all flesh is always there to help you weather the storm and things will become calm and clear but not one second before the appointed time. Remembering whose you are while you work and wait will help in the process. The Message Bible explains verses 6-7 as this: “So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.” This tells me again that we must be satisfied in whatever state we’re in (Phil 4:11), being humble and not trying to be more than we are but allowing God to shape us into the vessel He can use; casting all our cares on Him remembering that He knows and cares for us, so that we can do the work that He is preparing us for and then we will begin to see the Lord’s hand on us and how He is elevating us for His glory.
If we begin to view our lives as such, we will begin to see the Lord working, building and transforming us into who He purposed for us to be to advance the Kingdom. The word that I heard and wrote down was “get ready to walk into the best time of your life.” What an encouraging word to hear – We have to stand on God's word and hold on to it! No matter how things are looking right now, naturally or spiritually; no matter what we see or don’t see, manifested or not, we cannot allow the enemy to cause us to dwell on it … he can’t stop what God is doing in or for His people. So, go ahead and get excited, it’s our time!
Until the morning, be blessed,Cynde
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