Grace For The Journey

The Christian is in a battle.  The Bible teaches that we battle every moment against sin, the world, and the devil.  The Bible talks not only about the reality of the battles but how the Christian is to face and deal with them.  The primary portion of scripture where God presents truths for dealing with this battle in in 1 Peter 5:6-10.

This week we will look at the truth in this passage that will help us deal triumphantly with our battles.

What battles have you been fighting in lately?  What battles are just ahead, around the corner, and over the horizon that you will be fighting?  One thing is certain: every believer fights battles.  The problem is not that we face battles; the problem is that we face far too many of them in our own strength.  We have forgotten what the Bible teaches about battles . . .

The Battle Is The Lord’s

To deal effectively with our battles God teaches us that we are to:

I. Be humble

The Greek verb for “humble” here is in the passive voice, which could be translated, “be humbled.”  In this case, it is the hand of God that is humbling us. We are being instructed to allow God to humble us.

To the readers Peter was writing to it was persecution that God used to humble them. To you and me it could be the frustrations and failures of everyday life.  Rather than complaining about them, we need to surrender to the lordship of Christ.  Only when we humble ourselves under God’s hand will He exalt us.

God uses a variety of things to humble us.  Sometimes He uses other “extra grace required” people.  Sometimes He uses tragedy and loss.  Even though God may not have sent that calamity your way, He is able to use it for our good.  Thus, as Romans 8:28 says, “all things work together for good to those who love the Lord.”

Our problem is that we often won’t accept the sovereignty of God in our lives.  Living under the delusion of self-rule, we complain, struggle, and squirm.  Allowing God to humble us means that we remember that God is in control and we yield to Him.  Nothing will happen that He has not allowed.  When He allows it He has a purpose for it, and that purpose is always for our good.  It means accepting all that happens to us without resentment or rebellion against God.

Humility means accepting God’s rule instead of ours.

It means accepting His rule when we don’t understand.

It means accepting His rule when He doesn’t give us an explanation.

The word “humility,” in the Greek language, means “to make low, to abase, to make small, or to weaken.”  It is contrary to our human nature to be made low.  It goes against the grain of our pride and our sense of self-worth to allow anyone or anything to weaken us or make us small.

But in the kingdom of God things are different than in the world of men.

The verse immediately before this says that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.  The rest of verse 6 says that at the proper time, God will exalt those who have been humbled.

The reason that “proper time” never seems to be in consonance with our schedule is because as long as we are thinking we should be exalted, we are still nursing our pride. It is not until our pride is dead that He will exalt us.  Humility means we lose our pride, but we gain God’s favor.

When we are humbled, when we are made low, abased, and come to a sense of our own weakness, we will be forced to depend upon Him.

And that, dear Christian is the beginning of dealing effectively and triumphantly with whatever battle you have faced, are facing, or ever will face,

Tomorrow we will look at the next principles that will put us in position and give us the power to deal correctly with our battles.

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”