Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Quick question for you: What is the hardest part about living a godly life? I'm sure for everyone it's a multitude of different things. It's not knowing what's next. It's trusting that His plan is better than your plan, and letting go of maybe some of your own desires. There's a lot of hard things when it comes to living a godly life.
What does that even mean? Today we're going to dive into 2 Peter chapter 1, and we're going to start at verse 2. And it says:
May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.
That verse by itself is really encouraging, right? I'm sure all of us want more grace and more peace to live life, period. And I'm sure all of us would love to know God more and what it means to follow Him. But for me, the question is why do we actually need more grace and peace when it comes to growing in our knowledge of Christ? For me, that answer came in verse 3. So we're going to jump to verse 3 really quick as well.
God Has Already Given Us Everything
And that says:
By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence.
So I was like, okay, so you mean to tell me right now, in this moment, you've already given me everything that I need to live the life that you've called me to? And He's saying, yeah. And it starts with grace and peace. Knowing what it means to live a godly life starts with you actually understanding the heart of the Father to begin with. And that can be really hard to understand at times.
A Lesson from the Dominican Republic
I remember recently I went to the Dominican Republic to do some missions work out there, and I connected with a doctor. And the situation that the people are in out there isn't something that we can really understand and comprehend. And I remember just asking him, what does rest look like for him? What is being in a place of being fulfilled and having enough to give? How does he balance that when there's always a need for him to address?
And he was so loving, such a light spirit. But the look on his face when I asked it was almost puzzled, like, "I don't really know what you're asking me." And his response was, him serving the people in that community brought him the fulfillment that he needed for his heart and soul to be rested enough to keep going. That was a very different thought for me. And to be honest with you, it's much easier said than done.
I don't know if that's something that comes as natural for me when it comes to sitting in knowing that God has already given me enough to live out the life He's called me to.
Where Do You See Things Differently?
My challenge for you today is, what if we sat together and asked God where we're seeing our situation a bit differently? Maybe financially He's asking you to give and it's like, "Lord, I don't feel like I have enough to be someone who gives." And He's like, "I'm not asking you to give $1 million. I'm asking you to give one. I'm asking you to give ten."
Maybe it's your time and you feel like you're stretched to full capacity, and you don't understand where you could ever have enough to give. Maybe allow Him to reveal to you where He wants you to kind of reprioritize some things. It's a hard thing to do. But He promises that He's going to give you the grace and the peace needed to look at things the same way He does.
That's my prayer for you today.
