Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by you brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Well, I have been thinking again. Concern and discouragement often cause that to happen.
I was raised very Arminian. I now praise God for the Doctrines of Grace that through His word and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, I know to be true. Scripture is the picture of God reaching out to man, not the other way around! If it were not for His Amazing Grace, I shudder to think of the state of fallen man. Were it not for his Sovereign omnipotence, or his infinite wisdom, where would we be?
I used to be a die hard 1 or 2 point Calvinist. I could not see myself as totally deprived, there had to be some good in there somewhere! Unconditional election? Come on! There is no way God picks and chooses! I had, what I thought to be a very biblical understanding of these things. I look back now and see that what I had, was a very man based understanding of what man had created to make him feel more comfortable with who he thinks he is.
OK, OK, so what does this have to do with the above scripture?
Many people have different theology then I do. This difference in theology often makes me uncomfortable. I guess you could say that I allow a ''barrier'' to be built between myself and anyone who may think differently then I do. I think it is safe to assume that there are others like me! I also think that we can agree that this is not a proper response to our differences, especially considering these are fellow believers! We need to humble ourselves, cast our cares on Him because he cares! (v6-7) We need to be sober-minded and watchful in order avoid the schemes of the devil, we need to resist him and be firm in our faith! (v8-9)Take that wall down and live the Gospel!
There can be an is great danger here without the Gospel. Differences whether theological, personality, gender, or color can all tear apart. This cannot be allowed to happen in the church of God!
I don't know that I could call this suffering, as verse 10 states, it is certainly concern though!
We are his children, we are His church. We are here for His glory, let us live that way.
None of this is to say that I have perfect theology, perfection is unobtainable here on earth. You show me through scripture that I am wrong, I will change. I am saying I am human and I struggle, like we all do, with sin. I do indeed look forward to being restored, confirmed, strengthened, and established by my God through Christ! (v10)
To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
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