Harvest Daily 10/01/04

Harvest Daily Devotional
by Pastor Greg Laurie

October 1
Trusting in the Lord

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus . . . -Philippians 2:5

Every Christian experiences a time in life when they come face to face with hardship.  For Peter, it was witnessing the betrayal and arrest of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He simply could not stomach this event.  Frustrated and in despair, Peter drew his sword in defense of his Lord, cutting off the ear of one of the men arresting Christ (see John 18:10).  But in reality, Jesus did not desire this.  The sword was not the answer to salvation.

Poor Peter.  He was always doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.  He was sleeping when he should have been praying.  He was talking when he should have been listening.  He was boasting when he should have been fearing.  Now he was fighting when he should have been surrendering.  Peter's philosophy was turned upside down.

Peter's problem was failing to see that he was fighting the wrong enemy.  Our enemies are not of flesh and blood.  They are principalities and powers, and they cannot be defeated by ordinary measures.  Too often we, like Peter, forget ours is a spiritual battle that requires spiritual weaponry.  We neglect the most powerful weapon in our arsenal - prayer.  We are too quick to protest and not quick enough to pray.  We are too quick to picket and not quick enough to preach. 

The reality is that we all will face Gethsemanes in life.  For Jesus, Gethsemane was a time of suffering and hardship, a time when He chose to surrender to the will of the Father.  You too may face similar experiences in life that you don't understand.  You don't know what's ahead.  But you trust your unknown future into the hands of a known God.

Copyright (c) 2004 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.