Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

~1 Peter 1:3-7, ESV (emphasis mine)

Often, an efficiency of words prove to make or break the meaning and/or weightiness of an entire thought. But we no longer live in the luxury of an instant coffee or microwave society. After all, it takes at least three whole minutes (or sometimes longer) to microwave popcorn! Which is why we quickly lose interest and move on if anything we read, watch, or listen to takes longer than one minute.

Unfortunately, this very immature and dangerous lifestyle of living in the urgency of self-satisfaction and entertainment has entered the Church. This deeply grieves me. Every. Single. Day.

When we skim over the holy Scriptures, no longer reading carefully, studying prudently, or meditating lovingly on it, we complain and fret like the lost world. We easily miss one important word, or two (e.g., if necessary) that deepen our understanding of the entire passage.

Because God’s economy is perfect, He wastes nothing (Jn 6:12-13). And because “the LORD, the LORD, [is] a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex 34:6) He does not afflict us from His heart, but afflicts us always and only, because it was/is/will be, necessary for our eternal good—that we may be made like Christ—complete and lacking nothing good (cf. Ps 119:67, 71; Rom 5:3-4; Jas 1:2-4).

Below, is comforting and exhorting wisdom from and excerpt of Lewis Bayly’s (c. 1575-1631), The Practice of Piety of why God our Father allows and brings us to afflictions—that we will not be found to have wasted our lives, but rather, that our lives may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

“Meditations for the Sick

“1. That by afflictions God may not only correct our sins past, but also work in us a deeper loathing of our natural corruptions, and so prevent us from falling into many other sins which otherwise we would commit…

“2. God sends affliction to seal unto us our adoption, for “the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons [Heb 12:7-8, 11]…

“3. God sends affliction to wean our hearts from too much loving this world and worldly vanities; and to cause us the more earnestly to desire and long for eternal life…

“4. By affliction and sickness God exercises his children, and the graces which he bestows upon them. He refines and tries their faith, as the goldsmith does his gold in the furnace—to make it shine more glistening and brightly (1 Pet. 1:7;) he stirs us up to pray more diligently, and zealously, and proves what patience we have learned all this while in his school of affliction…

“5. God sends afflictions, to demonstrate to the world the trueness of his children’s love and service. Every hypocrite will serve God while he prospers and blesses him, as the devil falsely accused Job to have done: but who (but his loving child) will love and serve him in adversity…

“6. Sanctified affliction is a singular help to further our true conversion, and to drive us home by repentance to our heavenly Father…

“7. Affliction works in us pity and compassion toward our fellow-brethren that are in distress and misery; whereby we learn to have a fellow-feeling of their calamities, and to condole their estate, as if we suffered with them (Heb 13:3). And for this cause Christ himself would suffer, and be tempted in all things like unto us (sin only excepted) that he might be a merciful High Priest, touched with the feeling of our infirmities (Heb 4:15; Heb 2:18; Heb 5:8-9)…

“8. God uses our sicknesses and afflictions as means and examples both to manifest to others the faith and virtues which he has bestowed upon us, as also to strengthen those who have not received so great a measure of faith as we…

“9. By afflictions God makes us conformable to the image of Christ his Son (Rom 8:18; 1 Pet 4:14), who being the captain of our salvation, was made perfect through sufferings (Heb 2:10) And therefore he first bore the cross in shame, before he was crowned with glory (Heb 2:7)…

“10. Lastly, that the godly may be humbled in respect of their own state and misery; and God glorified by delivering them out of their troubles and afflictions, when they call upon him for his help and support…”

For further comfort and encouragement from the LORD himself, read these Scriptures and the entire chapter that each are found in: 1 Peter 1:3-7; Isaiah 30:18; Lamentations 3:31-33; Psalm 119:67, 71, Philippians 4:16-18.

Meek: patient, long-suffering, or submissive in disposition or nature; humble; humbly patient or quiet in nature, as under provocation from others.—synonym: gentle (ref. dictionary.com).

And He [Jesus the Christ] opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
   "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
   "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
   "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
   "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
   "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
   "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
   "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
   "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
   "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on [M]y account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

~Matthew 5:2-12, ESV [edits mine]

When you read this familiar passage—the Beatitudes, what do you do with it? Do you skip it? Smile and skim over it? Feel warm and fuzzy? Convicted? Find them unrelatable? Is it merely an ethereal and/or ephemeral thought? Does it pass by and through you like a gentle breeze that provides a refreshing calm, but with no lasting effect of comfort?

Or, does it make you wonder? Do you understand every blessedness? Or do you know you don’t, but are satisfied to have only a cursory, possibly correct or incorrect knowledge of it?

When you read this passage, do you realize that Christ has fully embodied every one of these blessed states of perfect and holy righteousness?

When Jesus was here,

He lived His entire life poor in spirit so that we would inherit the riches of eternal life in Him.

He was a man acquainted with sorrows, so that we may know the ultimate joy and happiness of being reconciled to God Almighty through His the shedding of His precious blood.

He lived wholly meek and lowly so that we might be lifted up to God our Father as cleansed and forgiven disciples in Christ.

He constantly hungered and thirsted for righteousness to make all who repent and trust in Him, the righteousness of God.

He practiced perfect mercy so that we may receive the mercy of God rather than His wrath; and thus, compassionately extend this godly mercy to others.

There is none purer in heart than Christ our God; and He lived as such in bodily form so that in Him, our consciences are purified to love what God loves and hate what He hates.

Christ sacrificed His body, to sow peace between evil and obstinate humanity, with kind and goodly God Almighty.

He was persecuted for righteousness sake so that He might procure our salvation and become the propitiation for our sins.

He was reviled, beaten, slandered, and rejected by His own creation to purchase our salvation—our only means of acceptance in the sight of our holy, just, and all-wise God and Father.

When you read the Beatitudes do you think of these things? Do you carefully consider that Christ sanctified Himself by fulfilling all righteousness—obeying God the Father perfectly for our sake? And because the Lord Jesus well-pleased the Father, all who repent and trust in His perfect work for salvation, is loved and accepted by God our Father, just as He is? Therefore, we are now indwelt with the Holy Spirit who faithfully works the good work of Christ in us, so that we will suffer as He suffered (for righteousness sake), that we may be resurrected as He is and enjoy the pleasure of the Father for all eternity?

Only when we are meek, will we carefully consider these things. Only when we humble ourselves before God Almighty will we open His Word, not to find ourselves in it, but to find Him.

What a year 2020 had been.

A year that seemed to be far worse than any that came before it.

And with high hopes built on resolutions we made, we were sure we could command and control the ushering in of a new year full of butterflies and rainbows—founded in self-reliance, ambiguity and redefining of all things by what “feels most right” for each person…at the moment.

There is no longer any absolutes of right or wrong, truth or error. We no longer recognize the weaknesses of different races, or celebrate the strengths we each have to offer. We are all Stepford Wives who look the same, have all the same skill sets, and can all do the same things with the same results, as long as we ourselves have decided it to be so.

Yes, unfortunately, it seems our yearning for the disaster and heartaches of 2020 to end once 2021 began, have all been doused with new leaders and new laws and a new social norms hurling us further down the miry pit of mass confusion.

It’s the futility of man attempting to rebuild the tower of Babel, in order to be our own gods—the master of our own souls and destinies.

There is truly nothing new under the sun (Ecc 1:9-11).

It seems that what we’ve endured these past 13 month is something far graver than all the years that came before. But in reality, it is not much different from previous years that have passed. Some of these turbulent years are as recent as a few decades ago (The Great Depression, 1929-1939; World War II, 1939; Pearl Harbor, 1941). Others happened hundreds of years ago (Bubonic Plague/Black Death, early-mid 1300s); with the greatest of them occurred 2,000 years ago—the inexplicably humble condescension of the Second Person of the Triune God—entering His own creation as a helpless babe—Christ the Lord. The only one, who at birth, was already the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He alone is the Ancient of Days. He alone is Eternal Life.

With the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, our country’s civil unrest due to various people groups vying for supremacy, veiled as equality and unity (though it is the truest form of racial separatism and universal bigotry), and the results of the Presidential election; many have abandoned reason and rationale for obtuseness and oblivion of all that is good.

None of this sounds very promising does it? It all sounds rather daunting, doesn’t it? And it may well be for the majority, but not for the few of us who are in Christ Jesus. Why is it different for us? Because we are only passing by—this world is not our Home. It is our temporary mission field, where we are commanded by our Master and Lord, to carry on His work of proclaiming the Gospel of God’s grace to all men, in all places, and at all times as the Holy Spirit leads and works through us (Acts 20:24).

The purpose of every Christian is the same.

We are all commanded to expend and exhaust our God-given spiritual gifts, talents, resources, and position(s) of influence, to exalt the name of Jesus Christ and urge all people to repent and believe the Gospel (Rom 1:16-17).

This is why true Christians, true disciples of Christ, truly converted children of the Most High God are concerned about the going ons of the world around us, but we are not crushed by the daily news that surrounds us.

Understanding the present, through the past, for the future.

“Why then has this people turned away

   in perpetual backsliding?

They hold fast to deceit;

   they refuse to return.

I have paid attention and listened,

   but they have not spoken rightly;

no man relents of his evil,

   saying, ‘What have I done?’

Everyone turns to his own course,

   like a horse plunging headlong into battle.

Even the stork in the heavens

   knows her times,

and the turtledove, swallow, and crane

   keep the time of their coming,

but my people know not

   the rules of the LORD.

“Thus says the LORD:

“Learn not the way of nations,

   nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens

   because the nations are dismayed at them

for the customs of the peoples are vanity.

“There is none like you, O LORD;

   you are great, and your name is great in might.

Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?

   For this is your due;

for among all the wise ones of the nations

   and in all their kingdoms

   there is none like you.

They are both stupid and foolish;

“But the LORD is the true God;

   he is the living God and the everlasting King.

At his wrath the earth quakes,

   and the nations cannot endure his indignation.”

~Jeremiah 8:5-7; 10:2-3a, 6-8a, 10

Freedom in God’s sovereignty, mercy, and grace.

As God’s holy and beloved children, we prudently perceive our current president, his cabinet, and all other leaders who have proudly proclaimed their allegiance to the building up of sinful desires of the flesh (1 Jn 2:16-17), just as our Father has commanded His children in times past.

We know that nothing is done without God’s active working or passive allowance, for the ultimate good (Christ likeness) for those He loves and has called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28-30, Titus 2:11-14).

“It is I [the LORD] who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him…if any nation of kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the LORD, until I have consumed it by his hand.

“[S]eek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

~Jeremiah 27:5-6, 8; 29:7

How to bless God’s providence.

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.”

~Romans 13:1-5