There are times when I have to bite my tongue ’til it bleeds, hold my fingers back from typing something, or hold my fists back from punching someone in the face.
There is a feistiness in me that wants justice. To set things right. To put someone “in their place”.
Sometimes that’s a great idea and sometimes it would only do more harm than good. Sometimes Jesus asks us to trust that He will take care of it and that we just need to move on.
Peter, one of Jesus’ close friends while he was on earth, is a guy I can relate to. He was feisty. He had a tendency to put his foot in his mouth and speak too soon or too much. He was impulsive and reactionary. But He loved Jesus dearly.
At one point, when they came to arrest Jesus, Peter, in defense of Jesus, pulled out his sword and cut off one of the guys’ ear. His loyalty was admirable, but Jesus got after him. Why? Because Jesus being arrested was all part of God’s bigger plan to save the world. God knew what He was doing and Jesus trusted that. Peter was being short-sighted and reacting emotionally to the situation. Understandable, but not the best plan. Jesus ended up healing the ear of this enemy – another example of Him “turning the other cheek”. It wasn’t passive. It was active trust. It was loving an enemy in spite of their actions.
Reactionary Peter would become ACTIONARY Peter. He became one of the most prominent founders of the early church. The fear that had induced his impulsive actions before was replaced with a boldness that came with trusting that God had a plan. He would see many people come to accept Jesus. He would experience prison, false accusations and unfair treatment. Eventually, he would die an undeserved death on a cross. Before he would have fought the injustice he experienced. But now he knew. He knew God had a plan in it all and that his pain would only lead to God’s glory.
He came to understand this so well, that when he was crucified, he asked to be hung upside down, because he didn’t consider himself worthy to die the same way that his Friend, his Lord, his Savior, died. Even though rightfully he shouldn’t have died at all, he humbly faced and accepted his death because it was for a greater good.
Sometimes there is a greater goal than proving I am right. There are worse things than being misunderstood. Truth will win. That doesn’t mean I will be passive. But it does mean that I will actively keep myself from being reactionary. My goal will not be about my own justice, but about God’s greater plan. I can rest in the fact that I am understood by the One who knows me best. And I can live with that…
1 Peter 5:6 – So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.
John 16:33 – “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
