INSTEAD
Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. (1 Peter 3:15)
We all have things that do not go the way we want. When these things happen, we start to think of things we could have done or said instead of what we did or said, or we have others to suggest what we could have done that would have been better.
There are also times when we were going to do something one way and we did something else instead, and it was the perfect thing to do. Perhaps in those times, someone might ask where we got that idea. When we know Jesus, we generally acknowledge that it must have been the Lord. If we do not know Jesus, we have one of those something told me, or I just felt led, or we attribute it to luck. No matter what it is, if it is good, it is God!
God is good. The devil is bad. God gives life. The devil steals, kills, and destroys. If someone randomly stabs someone to death on a subway that is bad. When someone targets and murders a young man because he does not like what he has to say, that is bad. When people cheer because these things happen, that is bad. God is good, the devil is bad.
When someone is set on doing evil, they refuse to consider what they could do instead. When people are so determined to hate, they won’t believe the truth no matter what. We see a lot of that these days. My prayer is that perhaps this word might help or at least challenge people to consider doing something else instead.
If you know Jesus, you know that there are things to do and think instead. The problem is, when we are locked in on an idea, even if it is a bad one, we can convince ourselves that we are right and even Jesus agrees with us. Of course, He does not, because he does not change.
Considering these two terrible things that have happened, I had many wrong thoughts. I knew they were wrong, and I pushed them down many times. I finally found peace when I felt pity for the perpetrators. How sad that someone could be driven so deeply into hatred that they would do such things. How sad when people can be so blinded by hate that they reject the truth and choose the lie. If you find yourself convicted by this, do something else instead. Worship Christ as Lord of your life.
It is possible to go to church and say we are Christians and still do wrong because we choose wrong. But Paul tells us to stop it! We must put Jesus where He belongs in our lives and humble ourselves in the presence of God, repent and be forgiven.
Place the hope of Christ above everything else. Allow the peace of God that passes understanding be the life source that you draw from. It is painful to hate and be disobedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Stop it. Instead, look to God. Be forgiven. Be saved. Know God!