We are all in God’s palm—tattooed that He never forgets, held, carried, cared for, transformed, molded like clay, grown like a branch, transported and planted wherever He wills. “See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands…” (Isaiah 49:16a, NIV). His arms span the globe; His reach holds through all generations. Nothing—in all of hell, in all of time, in all of creation—can loose us from His grip. Nothing can ever separate us from the love of Christ for He has “not lost one” of us, small and unruly as we are (see John 18:8-9; Romans 8:38-39).
To rest, in Him, means to stop fighting this.
“Help me to want what You want, Lord.”
We must be brave here—for we do not know things that are that large. We hold our Peace, then, with both hands, until we see all God sees and know all God knows; yet even in that Day, He is the One Whom we adore. He will always be the One Whom we worship, the One far superior to us.
The Word of God (Proverbs 14:30b) tells us that “jealousy and envy rot the bones”…and certainly, to be jealous of God’s position over us, rots the bones and structure of the inner person, the soul, to cripple it, to make it ineffective. Rebellion is stealthy; pride keeps its own brand of secrets.
The same verse says that “a heart of peace,” however, gives us life. Peace with God, allowing Him His position over us, gives us HIS VERY OWN LIFE. This miraculous channel is due to the fact that our Creator, our Savior, our Holy Spirit, in and around, are conjoined in unified Peace. Our hearts in us, beating in the now, are simultaneously knelt before God’s throne forever—one and the same Heavenly Place. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, preparing the Kingdom. His Kingdom is knit together with His Peace.
So must we be, or we tear our own souls apart.
Do not strive with God for control. Do not be “jealous” or covet His position of authority over you, nor over the world. Rather, love Him more, trust Him more, honor His power more. Through love and respect of Him, He will let you draw ever nearer to His helm.
He is running the show.
Believe this…no one could do a better job than God at managing the universal context of life. He is it. He is all there is. And He is perfect. He has looked; there is no other God besides Him.
“I am the LORD; there is no other God. I have equipped you for battle, though you don’t even know me” (Isaiah 45:5, NLT).
Get to know Him. There is no way you can waste your life if you want what God wants, and you trust Him that He is in control of everything that exists (regardless of how you immediately feel). Trusting God—and telling Him, from your heart, that you AGREE that His will is the best possible thing for you—and believing this, is the first step toward your own happiness.
Trust REQUIRES unanswered questions.
So be happy with the understanding that God only knows.
Looking at other persons confuses God’s clear communication with you. So get into your Garden, your Gethsemane, and pray. Listen. Get back up once He lets you. Find your strength. Obey. In God’s power, make it epic.
Be unique.
“It is just as well you are unique” – Dr. Watson quipped to Sherlock Holmes. You may field criticism, but THINK. Created so differently for God’s reasons, how can you fulfill them when you spend your energy fighting to become the same as the pack? Be one with only God, and God will make you special. Agree with what God has made—you! Stand apart, be consecrated, for your purpose was designed to be just as unique as you. It has little, if not nothing, to do with our understanding of our immediate world. It is not our longings that guides us particularly well; rather, it is peace with God that forms our heart compass. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Our trust in God, and our willingness to exist inside of the colossal patterns of His detailed Mind, garners His favor. Remember, you are the apple of His eye (Psalm 17:8).
Be faithful and strong, loyal and true.
When we say we want and need to be “blessed” by God, what we really mean is that we want to be happy and energetic. We want to be satisfied with our life, with others, and primarily with God. We want time to contemplate Him and His works. We do not want to live the majority of our days mindless of His goodness, feeling as though we missed His predestined mark. However, let’s remember that Jesus willingly went to the cross—for the sake of His Father, for the sake of Us, for the sake of His Eternal Kingdom. At face value, would that Plan have made any sense to you? Would it have seemed on the front end like a victory to you, or a failure? Like Peter, you and I would likely argue against it, just as we do in our own case (see Matthew 16:22). But this is how Jesus corrected that common error:
But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matthew 16:21-23, ESV).
The things of God require faith in an afterlife, in a perfected Heaven where it all makes sense.
Be cooperative.
It would be unfortunate if we argued with God’s design of things all of our days here. Christ showed us, in His ABSOLUTE TRUST IN THE FATHER’S PLAN (in whatever form), His willingness to cooperate with God. Christ showed not merely obedience, but agreement. There is a difference, for we can “technically” obey, yet have a dour attitude. No.., God wants our willingness, our “full” obedience. When we agree with God, we find strength, power, grace. Peace fills and floods all the nonsensical gaps with the overwhelming joy of willingness to serve God. Let us not forget that humble royalty requires a willing, joyful sacrifice all of our days.
Though hard, through sweating great drops of blood, somehow Jesus made His peace with the cross (Luke 22:44). He went through with it, beautifully. His pure, inner, eternal heart shone through the heinousness of evil. By the Word, and also by something great, holy and mysterious in our hearts and souls, we know He is LIVING IN THE ETERNAL REWARD OF IT ever after, in the presence of God, forever. Somehow, we just know it is True. Like a migratory bird knows its directions and when to fly there, we know Jesus is our pattern to follow here and His Kingdom is our Home.
Be cognizant of God’s will.
But would Jesus Christ have actually done it, would He have made this transformative reconciliation between us and God that would last Forever if He had not come to this one, paramount conclusion?
“Nevertheless, God Your will be done, not mine” (Luke 22:42).
This is the conclusion of our lives. Peace enters when we stop wrestling with this truth. You have the option—right now, today: Trust in God’s will though you cannot always touch it, see it, grasp it, or even understand it. Like the love of Christ, you just KNOW God’s plan is there. Step out on it. Lend God your life. You see, we all have a cup. We form a different sort of Royal Family. We give out the life God has put in us.
This blessed Palm Sunday, remember the Lord riding in on a humble donkey—not a typical king’s entrance, no army.
Charles Spurgeon states:
“Strange kingdom this, which needs no law save those which are written upon the hearts of the subjects. Stranger still…this was a kingdom in which riches were no part whatever of its glory. There rides the King, the poorest of the whole state.
Strange kingdom this, brethren! I trust we recognise it — a kingdom in which he that is chief among us, is not he that is richest in gold, but he that is richest in faith; a kingdom which depends on no revenue except the revenue of divine grace.
Strange kingdom this! But, brethren, here is something perhaps yet more exceeding wonderful; it was a kingdom without armed force. Oh, prince, where are thy soldiers? Is this thine army?
Most strange King, who wears no sword, but rides along in this midst of his people conquering and to conquer! Strange kingdom, in which there is the palm without the sword, the victory without the battle. No blood, no tears, no devastation, no burned cities, no mangled bodies! King of peace, King of peace, this is thy dominion!”
Things may seem strange now. However, just wait. One day every knee will bow. Live for that day. Want what God wants for your life, and you will see this:
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords” (Revelation 19:11-16, KJV).
It helps us to remember that such amazing power started here:
“If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” [Then] the blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them (Matthew 21:3-14, NIV).
Though you have nothing but a broken, borrowed palm branch, give it to Him. He will turn you into an Oak of Righteousness, firmly planted in His love. He will make you a Place with Him in Heaven. He will take your great, epic failure and turn it into the most amazing Victory anyone has ever seen.
Give God His time.
May God bless you.
TRANSLATIONS
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
King James (KJV), public domain.
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, Copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Spurgeon, Charles. The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (sermon, Aug. 18, 1861). Retrieved March 24, 2024 from: The Spurgeon Center, https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/the-triumphal-entry-into-jerusalem/#flipbook/