Daily Office Reflection: Of God

Psalms: 97, 99, (100) * 94, (95); Judges 13:1-15; Acts 5:27-52; John 3:22-36

We have Peter and the apostles being questioned in Acts today concerning their spreading the news of Jesus the Messiah. Responding to Peter, a Pharisee gets up and speaks, picking up on a theme that we hear throughout Scripture. The Pharisee says in trying to refute Peter's message .... because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them and you will find yourselves actually fighting God..... The apostles were then brought back in and flogged and told to stop. They of course don't stop and continue to preach, teach and proclaim the good news of Jesus the Messiah.

So much of our lives are driven by things of human origin, and through the course of history we have seen how they have failed. There are things that are "of God" which we have seen survive through the ages. We know many of those things that are "of God" but we still, often, yearn and chase after those things that are of human origin. Today's reading from Acts reminds us that God's time is not our time and, as hard as it is for us to understand, there are moments when we will have to face and endure difficult times. The apostles today are flogged for their beliefs and their refusal to give up on this thing that is "of God".

So it is not all peaches and cream (or strawberries and chocolates if you prefer). We will face loss, we will not be the most popular person on the block, but if we are doing those things that are "of God" than those other inconveniences, injuries, hurts and losses do become more bearable.

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Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.