MARK 8:33c
New Living Translation
“You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not
from God’s.”
This statement to Peter by Jesus can be applied to many
different areas of our lives today. The
setting was one of sadness in that Jesus was sharing with His disciples what
must take place in His life to complete the will of God. His purpose for coming to earth was to die in
our place. It will be only after
Christ’s death and resurrection that the disciples will grasp the significance
of that death and why He had to die in the first place.
In our current setting we find ourselves
as followers of Christ threatened on many fronts. Radical Islamic terrorists are out to
obliterate all infidels from the face of the earth. They do it in the name of Allah (God) as a
means of purging the earth of evil.
Essentially, they have the mindset of a psychopath, “repeatedly engaging in criminal and antisocial behavior without remorse or
empathy for those victimized.”(1) They have targeted anyone who will
not bow to their will, especially Christians.
Their acts of torture, death and destruction are done in grandiose style
as to draw specific attention to those actions. Yet they do it behind facial
coverings, the sign of a coward, really not much different then doing these
acts under cloak of night. It is all designed to create fear in the hearts of
men. As believers in Jesus Christ, we
have nothing to fear, though it is quite human to do so. We are seeing all these events take place
from a human point of view and not from God’s.
As much as we may not want to accept this, God created these terror
merchants as well. They are deluded into
thinking they are serving the God who created them by creating wanton death and
destruction. We believe them to be misguided and misinformed for their guidebook
is the Koran, which is not the Word of God.
There have been rumors and threatening
statements regarding future targets and actions of these bringers of evil,
however, we must always remember that nothing takes place without God’s
foreknowledge and it will only be something that He either causes or allows for
His own purposes. Not one of Christ’s
disciples understood why Jesus had to die and be taken from them and so it is
today. Multitudes of people don’t
understand why people are being martyred for their faith. Do not fret for God is in complete control of
everything that has and will occur in this life He has given us. We must ask
the Lord to enable us to see things as they truly are from His point of view. No matter what may take place going forward,
we will receive the greatest benefit from its outcome because God has declared
it to be so. Jeremiah 29:11 NLT “For I know the
plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for
disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!
Resource: The Life Application Study Bible; Tyndale
House Publishing.
(1) The
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language; publisher: Houghton Mifflin; 1st
edition -1969.
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