But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. 1 Peter 2:9-17

Growing up as a Wolf Cub, in an excursion to the wild, there was the time to make a bonfire to keep animals away from our camp at night. Trying to make a spark to ignite the dry leaves was a sight, quite frustrating! Why? The effect of the wind almost annulling our efforts to generate sparks, yet when once the leaves caught fire, the same wind helped in keeping the leaves and wood burning! Getting older, I could relate to the lesson taught by that experience; that we judge a situation as good or bad by how it affects us rather than by what purpose God is seeking to accomplish.  We do the same in our reaction to changes in weather, oh, it’s too cold or it’s too hot, yet the One who created seasons had established plans and purposes behind them (Matthew 16:3).

The Lord God alone determines what is good or bad, and He does so, not by how it affects neither my plans nor yours, but how it accomplishes His plans for our lives! As we see so much uncertainty, fear and apparent misrule all around, avoid falling into the rabbit hole of dwelling on your perception or judgment neither yet such judgments as proliferate on social media! Ask the Lord how are these things, as discomfiting as they may be, how they are accomplishing His plans of intimacy with Him and faith in Him. Until we get to this point, we will never be able to attain to 1 Peter 2:19, For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. This is food for thought.

Photo by Sebastian Pociecha on Unsplash