THINK IT NOT STRANGE
By Minister Donna Pickens

Years ago I heard a newscaster discuss the turmoil that was taking place in Bethlehem. The newscaster said, “Isn’t it something that they are asking for peace in a place where the Prince of Peace was born?” When newscasters begin talking like that then someone has to get the message, because newscasters are supposed to remain neutral while reporting the news. They aren’t supposed to let you know how they feel. The Bible says when the world starts asking for peace, look up, for your redemption draws nigh. We are ushering in the redemption of Christ, and all we need right now is peace. In the meantime, there is someone who wants to rob you of exactly that; someone who wants you depressed, stressed, and oppressed, simply because that is his mission: to make you miserable.

God asked Satan one day what he was doing. Now, anytime you have to ask someone what they are doing, it indicates that they have been busy. God can count on Satan to be busy doing the wrong things. So when God asked Satan what he was doing, Satan replied, “I’m going to and fro throughout the earth.” Why? Because Satan hates God’s children and he’s seeking diligently whom he may devour. Satan isn’t looking for a best friend.

A Way of Escape
When adversity knocks on your door, be aware that there is someone seeking to devour you. Rejoice in knowing that the Prince of Peace has already made a way of escape. All you need do is hold fast to your confession of faith without wavering, for He is faithful who promised. He said, after you’ve done the will of God you shall receive the promise.

First Peter 4:1-3 says, “For as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, strengthen yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelling, banquetings, and abominable idolatries.”

There were times when some of us did such things; we lived in the lusts of the flesh, made bad decisions, and reaped the fruit of our poor choices. But when we gave our lives to Christ and became Christians, the world, our so-called friends, and even some family members failed to rejoice with us. “Wherein, they think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of rioting, speaking evil of you” (1 Peter 4:4). So now that you are a born-again Christian, people look at you and say that there’s something strange about you. Do you know why? Because there are some people who will not let you forget your past. They would rather think you strange than admit that you are a new creature in Christ Jesus. In the meantime, you are dismayed that they view you this way. Here’s a bit of advice – think it not strange.

The Quick and the Living
First Peter 4:5 says, “Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.” When God refers to the Christian, he calls us “the quick,” which means “the living.” Therefore, the question is, who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the living and the dead? “For this cause was the gospel preached, also, to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the Spirit.” We must be mindful of how we live, where we go, and what we say and do. People of the world judge us based on what they see and hear. They cannot judge us based on anything else if they do not live after the things of God.

We live according to God in the Spirit. More than two thousand years ago it was recorded in the Bible that the end of all things is at hand. God is not restricted by time. He doesn’t live in moments and seconds, hours, months and, or even years. Those measurements of time are for us. That’s why the Bible says that a day with the Lord is as a thousand years. The Lord tells us in His Word, when certain signs happen, and when certain things begin to be said, such as “Peace, Peace,” then look up for our redemption draws nigh.

We are ushering in the return of Christ. The Word of God says above everything, have fervent love among yourselves. Well, God is love. He is the epitome of love. That’s why He forgives us whenever we blow it. He’s made available everything we need to not make mistakes, so if we do make them we are covered.

Sometimes the brethren have a greater difficulty walking in love among themselves than they do with those who are without Christ. There is too much bickering and murmuring among the saints of God, just as it was with the children of Israel. The Israelites murmured and cried and whined until God pretty much told them, “Okay, you wished you could remain here. Therefore, you will remain here. You’ll die right here because you wouldn’t stop murmuring.” It’s as if the children of Israel could never appreciate what God had done for them, or He could never do enough of the miraculous to satisfy them.

An Ungrateful Attitude
There is a saying, that you can take the girl out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the girl. Well, that saying fit the Israelites like a leather glove. You would have thought the parting of the Red Sea, or sending manna from heaven, might have been evidence enough of God’s promise to them. And what about the fact that they all left Egypt healed without a single sickness or disease among them? God allowed them to bankrupt Egypt. Knowing all that, shouldn’t it have been enough for them to serve God all the days of their lives?

If you have children, you might find one of them to be somewhat ungrateful, a child for whom it seems you can never do enough because he or she always takes but never shows appreciation. But does that make you want to take back the gifts you share with that child? Does it make you want to love that child less? The children of Israel were ungrateful, but God did not love them any less. If you raise your children to be thankful, they will think about how much they miss being with you, even when you are apart from them. Sometimes you have to get away to appreciate what’s in front of you. That’s how the world is.

Sometimes situations will arise that force us to learn how to use the Word of God for a mighty work in our lives. Don’t get me wrong; God won’t make everything instantaneous. Can you imagine what would happen if He did? Then we would never know how to operate in faith. It is between the time that you believe you receive and the manifestation that your faith is in operation. If everything we believed for happened in seconds, then we would not develop the faith for the manifestation of the blessings. We must trust God and operate in the fruit of patience. He said you have need of patience that after you’ve done the will of God you will receive the promise (Hebrews 10:36). The promise is coming, but you have to do something first – trust God and be patient.

Quenching the Fiery Dart
There are times in our lives when we deal with situations that seem larger than life. Think it not strange when you find yourself confronted with fiery trials (1 Peter 4:12). You see, the Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:16 that Satan will throw fiery darts at us. He instructs us to put on the shield of faith, which will quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. The average Christian I speak with thinks that when they are under attack it is something strange. So what if you’re being challenged, that’s a part of the Christian life. “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,” (1 Peter 4:12). James 1:3 tells us, it is the trying, or the proving, of our faith that works patience. Ephesians 6:13 tells us that when we’ve done everything we can to continue to stand. We are in warfare.

Keep your armor on so that you can withstand in the evil day when those fiery darts come your way, whether they be in the form of a letter, a telephone call, or a report from the doctor.

Meanwhile, don’t stop going to church. What you’re going through is simply a challenge or test. Continue to fight the good fight of faith. You’ve already won in the end, you just have to endure the battle, and the battle belongs to God! You have to take the Word of God and use it. You cannot fix the situation through your own means. Though you may have overcome one attack, don’t be surprised that you are facing another. Well, praise Jesus that the same victory you received before, you can receive again. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing. Having done all to stand, continue to stand on the Word of God.

Use your faith; that’s how you grow and develop. Hold fast to your confession of faith without wavering because God is faithful. Stay with the Word of God, and know that His glory may be revealed to give you a testimony of exceeding joy. If you are reproached (criticized, scolded or rebuked) for the name of Christ, you should be happy because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you (1 Peter 4:14). “On their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified.”