“He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when Jesus turned and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter. “Get behind Me, Satan! He said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Mark 8:32-33 NIV)
Who was Peter to rebuke Jesus? Who are we to question God’s method or timing? And yet we do. Humanity (and me, chiefly) has a bad habit of arguing with God, of plying Him endlessly for our own personal interest. As we consider Peter’s rebuke of Jesus, we recognize our own tendency to try to tell God what to do. How sinful. How arrogant. How short-sighted we are.
Forgive us, God, for all the times we’ve overlooked Kingdom needs for the desires of our own man. We are terribly selfish flesh!
Peter and I (and perhaps, you, too) tend to think about our own stuff. Our flesh and blood shout louder than anything else in our world. We are consumed with what we want. We need God’s forgiveness and intervention to pry our fingers from the illusion of control that we hold tightly to.
We need His help to see the Kingdom of God as the vast and pressing priority of our existence. The concerns of God are far greater than the concerns of us. We are not the epicenter of what God is doing. Jesus is. Our proximity to Him adjusts our perception: the closer we stand, the better we see. Jesus is obsessed with saving people and there is no soul more significant than another. He would have died for one of us, He would have died for any of us. He did die for ALL of us. His goal is right relationship with anyone who will accept Him.
We wrestle. Our sinful nature sets us over and over at the center of our own story: the narcissistic nucleus sending the lesser planets spinning. But that’s not our role is this saga. Jesus is the singular Son. The universe dances according to His glory. He’s doing so much more than directing individual orbits; He’s orchestrating salvation, sanctification, meaning and purpose.
One of the Live Dead Joy entries this week was about breath prayer. It’s an ancient practice employed by believers from the fourth through the sixteenth centuries. Christians would prayerfully choose a seven to nine syllable sentence and attach it to a daily activity. At first it felt wrote, but the longer the believer participated in their breath prayer, the deeper it sank into their spirit. Over months and years, the prayer became like breathing, some even prayed it in their sleep.
I love this idea and I have been leaning in to the Spirit for leading in my own breath prayer. The sentence I keep coming back to is simply: “Set my heart on things above.” The idea is that I learn to de-center myself and see the world as God sees it.
“Since, then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4 NIV)
Lord, we forget our place. Please forgive us for all the times we’ve come against You: in words, actions and thoughts. Our flesh fights Your authority, but truth tells of Your sovereignty and Your goodness. Today we recognize anew that You are the axis on which the entire universe turns. We relinquish any pretense of power we imagined we had. We submit to Your holy and good authority over our story. Have Your way, and if it pleases You, pull us close enough to appreciate Your perspective. Make Your Kingdom our priority. Amen.