The bible says to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything else will be added unto you.” Before this proclamation, Jesus is saying that we shouldn’t worry about life and the troubles that come along with it, that God will always take care of His people. He is saying that we should seek God and His righteousness first, and everything else will be handled and answered.
So I’ve decided to take that approach in how I’m feeling today. Here’s a short list: angry, confused, violent, unsure, skeptical, oppressed, limited, unprotected, ignored…I could go on but the point of this post is to work through these feelings the best way I know how, and that is through Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 12 gives doctrine about faith, discipline, renewing our spirit, and the second coming of Christ. It starts out by defining our faith through Jesus, warning us that the path of the righteous is not easy but that Jesus did it through faith so that we as followers of Christ would be able as well. We are commanded to endure the race and embrace the pain, because it chastens us. The scripture explains that this chastening leads to peace, and ultimately that is what I need right now.
Peace. It’s an eluding word as I think about the world right now, trying to understand it as a young, black woman in America. Trying to come to terms with events, which at first glance don’t seem to directly affect me, but in the grand scheme of things touch every aspect of my life – in ways I know that I don’t fully understand.
The bible says that the peace of God surpasses all understanding, guarding our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. As I right this, I’m praying to be overtaken by that kind of peace. I’m praying that flows from heaven to guard the hearts and minds of all of those who woke up this morning lost and hurt and confused and angry. That it settles our spirits and soothes our souls.
Hebrews 12 warns us that the chastening will be painful, but that it is the ultimate sign of God’s love for us – if He didn’t do it, that means he doesn’t care. If we consider Jesus, his walk on earth those 33 years was tragic and beautiful all at the same time. If anyone knows the plight of a black man, it would be Jesus. He was ridiculed and questioned daily. For all of his followers, he had twice as many people who hated him and wanted him dead. For all the good he did, he had skeptics who couldn’t see the miracles for what they were but instead mocked him at every turn. His enemies plotted against him and his own friends betrayed him. He was beaten, battered, and bruised for our iniquities…the more I think about this in the context of Hebrews 12, the more I realize how much God loves Jesus – and how much God loves us. God walked with him, and maintained his peace.
Just for us.
I feel the peace in that, I embrace the comfort. I don’t want to ignore the plight of those living in the same messed up world that I am, but instead I want the peace to be passed on. For people to know that just like the pleasures of the world, the pain of the world is also temporary. Its not this life and this world we should be anguished and concerned about, but our souls and eternity. Its not the death of flesh that matters, but the destination of our soul. The chastening we go through now is the prepare us for eternal life. The fruit to be yielded from the process God puts us through is the “peaceable fruit of righteousness” – without which no man will enter the kingdom of heaven.
Welcome 
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