Get ready to start a journey…a journey through the pages of the Bible and the pages of your life.
When we pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we are putting forth a risky offering. We are asking that God’s perfect will be worked through our lives. And we are placing ourselves in submission to that perfect will. For Jesus, that meant death—even death on a cross! What will that prayer mean for you? I don’t know what it will mean, but here are some things it could mean.
In the preceding verses, Peter told his readers to humble themselves under the “mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” Believers can cast all their anxieties on the Lord because God is always faithful, and those who follow him can entrust themselves to his care. God is in control, but that does not nullify human responsibility. We are reminded of this in today’s passage.
Humility is the appropriate “attire” for the follower of Jesus. The lasting principle, quoted here by Peter, makes the case that God ”mocks proud mockers, but shows favor to the humble and oppressed” (Proverbs 3:34 NIV).
Charles Swindoll once told me, “Preach to hurting people, and you will never lack an audience.” I recently heard the same advice from Rick Warren as I listened to a podcast while running one morning on the streets of Mae Sot, Thailand. Warren explained how God often uses pain—sometimes self-inflicted—to soften our hearts and remind all those listening to preach to people who are in pain. Here’s how the apostle Peter said it.
Jesus humbled himself in obedience. What will it mean for us to humble ourselves before God?