Are We Settled in His Grace?

"But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." I Peter 5:10 

"Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Daniel 3:25

Deeper Reading: I Peter 5:5-11, Daniel 3:19-25

I have read the verse from I Peter numerous times in my life. In different seasons, I have honed in on perfect, establish, and/or strengthen multiple times. Today, in His amazing glory, God revealed to me that I had been neglecting to let the last few words sink in. As we take in the whole section of the fifth chapter of First Peter, we notice this promise, of God granting and doing these things in us, is preceded by some important instructions and warnings. 

There are times in our lives that we can get overwhelmed by life. Sometimes, we're overwhelmed with busyness. Other times, perhaps we are overwhelmed by all the sin being celebrated in this broken world. I believe even when we are seeking God we can get overwhelmed. Partly because there are a lot of rules and general good things that we are called to do as believers. However, God does not want us to be overwhelmed - He wants to settle us. He wants to give us His peace, which is the peace that passes all understanding! 

How about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego? Do you think they might have been overwhelmed at the possibility of being thrown into a furnace so fiery hot that the guards who were tasked with throwing them into it ended up dying from just the task at hand? Yet the Bible shows when these men were presented with the choice: bow down to the idol or be thrown into the fiery furnace, they did not back down. They told King Nebuchanezzar that they believed God was able to save them from the burning fiery furnace, not only that He was able but that He would do so. Do you think God settled them before they were confronted by the king? 

There are a few ingredients we must have, in order to make room in our hearts, minds, and entire beings, and I'm pretty confident that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego had the recipe memorized, so to speak. One of the important, sometimes overlooked, items is humility. We have to be confident in God, and His abilities, to work in us...and we must admit that without Him we do not have what it takes to face any fire in our lives. If we rely on our own strength, our own abilities, we will never be truly settled because we will never have God's peace filling us up. 

Another important piece to this peaceful, settled state of faith is that we must actively seek God. Ask Him for His Spirit to fill us. Seek to know Him; seek His holy face. Remember, Jesus Himself told us these things in His time here on earth. To "be sober, be vigilant" as we are encouraged to be in verse eight, definitely involves actively seeking God as well as actively doing His will - that is to serve others in a way that brings Him - and Him alone - glory. If we are being idle, then our enemy, the devil is going to see that as an opening to shake us up - to separate us from the peace of God...this is when we feel the most unsettled. 

To resist the devil is to actively dwell with God in His peace; being settled in a way that only the comfort of an intimate relationship with God can provide. To be settled, at peace, filled with God's strength, perfected in His grace, established in His calling for us, is somewhere I think we all long to be. However, what it isn't is a pass on all hard times. Sometimes, God settles us while the world around us burns. It the outside world looks at us they should not see us against the world on our own...rather, they should clearly see God's glory. They should exclaim, like King Nebuchanezzar, "Look!" Look at the extra man in the fire. Look at the Light shining in them. Look at God's obvious presence in their actions. 

May our God of grace settle each of us this week as we actively seek Him, and may He strengthen, perfect, and establish us as we work to be the blessing with the blessings He has provided to us.