Perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish:

1 Peter 5:10

10     After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

     

            Do you feel like you’ll never make it as a Christian … that you’re doomed to fail? This verse says just the opposite. He didn’t call you to leave you sitting in the dust to make it on your own. He will Himself (not you in your own strength) perfect you, confirm you, strength you, and establish you. You have available through Him all that you will ever need to succeed. He wants us to be the type of Christian that will give nonbelievers a “thirst” to become a true believer. When we are like what this verse says we are, others can’t help but want to be like us. You can’t fail!

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "There is no time to wonder how or if you’re going to make it. I have decreed that you shall make it. I will bring about your completion if you will allow Me to do so. Do not resist My efforts to bring you into My perfection. It is not something that you can do in your own power. You must have My help to obtain what I have planned for all My children. But you shall obtain it if you will only let Me have My way in your life.”

            34. I can trust God to continue to work in me and supply everything that I need to continually bring me closer to the point of perfection in my life.

Fulfill every desire for goodness:

2 Thessalonians 1:11

11     To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power,

     

           

            Do you have a desire to have some goodness in your life? Are you wondering if it truly is God’s will that you have that goodness working in your life? And even if you believe it is His will, do you doubt that it will ever be manifested in your life? It’s not the devil giving you that desire. He wants only wrong things to come from your life. This verse let’s you know that desire for goodness is His will, and that He will fulfill it. Also, God will fulfill your works of faith with power.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "I love it when you desire to do good for others. I will bring those things to pass as you trust in Me. I have many things for you to do. You can come to know them if you wait before Me in the quiet hour of the night. I will show you the way to operate in My power. It is not so that you can rule over others, but so that you can bring about those things in their lives that I desire for them. I could do it Myself without you, but it is My desire that you experience the same joy that I have when My children are blessed.”

            33. Whenever I have a desire for something that is good for me or in me, God will fulfill that desire. Whatever power I need to fulfill that desire, He will supply abundantly.

             Will of God – good, acceptable, and perfect:

Romans 12:2

2     And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

            In the context of the passage, our not being conformed to the world but being transformed by the renewing of our minds shows (proves) to the world that God’s will for our lives as Christians is a transformation which is good and acceptable and perfect. That transformed being is His will for us, and it is nothing short of perfect.

I believe, though, that we can apply this to God’s will in general. That is … if it’s not good, or not acceptable, or not perfect, then it is not God’s will.

            Something being one’s will implies a desire that it happen. That’s why I don’t like the term “permissive will of God”. I understand what people mean by it. Sometimes things happen that are not His will (desire). They couldn’t happen if He didn’t permit them, but they are not His will.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "I only desire what is good for you. My will for you is the perfect thing for your life. I will not settle for less than the best, so don’t you. You cannot hide from My will. It follows you wherever you go. It will bring you into the most glorious life possible. Do not resist it. When people stray from My will, they get into trouble. Walk in My will which is My Word, and you will walk in blessings daily.”

            32. God’s will for me is good, acceptable, and perfect. Therefore, I can trust Him that He would never do anything harmful to me, nor ask me to do anything that was not in my best interest.

Cast anxiety on Him:

1 Peter 5:7

7     casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

     

            Of course, in Philippians, we are told to be anxious for nothing. How hard is that for the average person? If we can’t see the solution coming quickly, we get anxious. We are saying, in a sense, that we don’t trust God to take care of us like He should … or rather, like we want Him to and in the time that we would like for Him to do it in. He says here to cast those anxieties on Him. His shoulders are big enough to carry them.

            There is the story of the little old lady in London during World War II. She would go to the nearby air raid shelter when the sirens blew. One day she stopped coming. Her friends thought that she had been killed or went somewhere else to stay with relatives. Days later, one of them saw her on the street and asked, “Where have you been? We’ve missed you.” “I haven’t been anywhere”, she replied. “When we didn’t see you at the air raid shelter, we thought maybe you had gone to the country to stay with relatives.” “No”, she said, “I’ve been home all this time.” “What do you do when the air raid sirens blow?” her friend asked. “I just stay at home and go to bed.” “Aren’t you afraid?” “No. I read in the Bible that God neither slumbers nor sleeps. I figured there was no sense in both of us staying awake at night!”

            My friend, there’s no sense in Him and us staying awake at night worrying about what may happen! Sure, many times He will want us to do something ourselves in the situation, but He most of all wants us to trust Him to take care of it for us. We can’t hear His instructions when our mind is filled with anxiety about the problem.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "Trust in Me, My child. Don’t allow anxiety to take hold of your mind. You cannot walk in My blessings when your thoughts are centered on your problems. You must allow Me to work My way and My will in your life. I will finish the work I’ve started and won’t leave you stranded. I will help you in time of need; in the time of great storm. You are in preparation for the great tribulation that is coming upon the world. You cannot take a stand against great conflict until you are able to trust in Me to stand in the times of lesser ones. Do not be anxious for any thing, but let your mind stay focused on Me, and I will show you the solutions to your problems.”

            31. Whenever I am anxious, I can cast that anxiety on my Father because He truly cares for me. Then He bears the burden instead of me.

More things about our relationship with the Father:

            Comforts in afflictions:

2 Corinthians 1:3-5

3     Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

     4     who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

     5     For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.

     

            Whenever His children go through some sort of distressful situation (it doesn’t have to be as horrible as Hurricane Katrina), God is there to comfort them. It is His comfort, so it has to be the best. Once we have recovered (and that is His plan … not for us to stay down), we can then comfort those around us with that same kind of comfort which He gave to us. He can understand our sufferings because His Son suffered far more than we ever will!

 

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "My heart hears the cries of your heart. Your heaviness is burdensome to you. That is not at all what I desire. My desire is that you be free within your heart and mind. My desire is to take away the pain within you and to replace it with My joy and comfort. Rest your mind and your soul in My peace. Allow Me to comfort you in My own way. Then you will be free to comfort others that are hurting. Sometimes people cannot or will not hear My voice comforting them, but they will listen to you when you do so. Allow Me to work in you and through you to help others.”

            30. God, the Father, comforts me in all my afflictions. He does this so that I may be able to comfort others in their afflictions with that same comfort with which He comforted me.