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1 Peter 2:23 NLT
He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.
I recently received an email from a friend which shocked me. He was ‘disappointed’ with me in a number of issues he enumerated, and that I refused help to another friend because I demanded money for my time and energy. I was stung to the very core of my being. It challenged my integrity and the values I have articulated to all who know me. Was I in fact such a hypocrite and liar?
Our perceptions of ourselves may never be quite how someone else perceives us. Our own understanding of our motives is always subject to misunderstanding. We cannot manage our own publicity but are invited to follow Jesus, who ‘entrusted himself to the one who judges justly’ (1 Peter 2:23, NRSV).
God invites us to take a look at things from his perspective. From this vantage point we consider what we have been invited to know and hence believe about God. We reflect upon how we are to express worship to God in our current context, and the decisions we will take about how we will live our life in spite of criticism or misunderstanding. Finally, we are reminded of the place and purpose of prayer, for often when facing stress, prayer moves swiftly to the bottom of my agenda.
Jesus, who was insulted yet chose not to retaliate, and when suffering made no counter threats, is indeed our model, in whose footsteps we are invited to walk. We are invited to demonstrate to a fragmenting world, where relationships are readily abandoned and the fabric of our society too easily and cheaply torn apart, to be the presence of Jesus and an access point for the kingdom that is partially present and still yet to come in all its fullness.
QUESTION: Are you bearing a number of wounds from the past that simply stir up pain, anger or resentment?
PRAYER: Lord, you are my defender and my strong tower. Help me to turn to you and respond to all trials with grace and truth.
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