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“HOW AWESOME IS THAT”

Excerpted from Sifted: Diary of a Grieving Mother by Karen Harmening

AUGUST 14, 2017

I was reminded of Sarah’s last journal entry this morning as I was having my quiet time. I once again found myself in 2 Peter seeking much-needed encouragement to persevere. As I read I could hear her voice shouting the exclamation she wrote in her final journal entry, “We get to participate in His divine nature! I mean how awesome is that?”

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. (2 Pet. 1:2-4)

I had memorized 2 Peter 1:2-3 a few months before the crash, they are such rich verses. They are why I was back in 2 Peter 1 this morning, reminding myself of the truth I know I must meditate on to survive. “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord” (v. 2). As never before, we as a family stay in constant need of grace and peace, knowing they are the only balm to our wounded souls.

What beautiful truth in this verse that they are present, not only present but multiplied through our knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. Grace and Peace are multiplied to me through my knowledge that my precious Savior is interceding on my behalf today, that He and my Father know my pain, that my Father sees my every tear, that my Father will uphold me with His righteous right hand, and that He will not leave our pain unredeemed.

Grace and peace come in knowing that my Father knows every situation that faces us, that He recognizes every scheme of the enemy swirling about us. Though the enemy taunts us with words and thoughts of hopelessness and despair, our loving Father has already provided a way of escape from those temptations through His Word and His promises. Our escape from the hopelessness and despair that the enemy desires to ensnare us with is through the grace and peace that are readily available and multiplied through the knowledge of Him.

I don’t believe it is by chance that the Lord prompted Sarah to write in her final journal entry about the need to “be alert and of sober mind” because of “the devil prowling about seeking whom he may devour, which he will especially be doing on this mission trip.” The mission trip she was called to became our “mission trip” at her departure, and she was so very right. Satan struck our family with a devastating blow that day, and he continues to wage war through relentless attacks.

As his fiery darts continue to strike about us, as we walk through multiple strategic attacks at once, the temptation comes to say: “I can not do it all.” “I simply can not.” “It requires too much energy, too much pain, too much sacrifice, I can’t.” 

I’m so thankful that through knowledge of His Word, He provides a way of escape from this temptation as well. I am immediately reminded of Elisha’s words when he and his servant were under what seemed like an inescapable attack. Encircled by their enemies, his servant overcome by fear, Elisha implored, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16). Elisha then prayed to the Lord that He would open the servant’s eyes so he could see. His eyes were opened and he beheld angel armies, the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire all around them.

Grace and peace are multiplied as I meditate on this account, this is the God I serve, the God of angel armies. The God who delivers and sustains, though the enemy pursues with death and destruction in his eyes. Grace and peace are multiplied through the knowledge that my tender Father, my Defender, my Refuge, the God of the universe holds us in the the palm of His hand where no one and nothing can pluck us out.

Grace and peace are multiplied even further, though. In addition to His omnipotent external provision in the form of His righteous right hand and His angel armies gathering about us, we also have His mighty internal provision through the gracious imparting of His divine nature.

His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.(vv. 3-4)

Not only is He in front of me, behind me, and beside me but through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, He and His divine power are in me. He has granted to me everything pertaining to life and godliness. That means He has given me, through His divine nature, everything I need to walk this path before me, not only to walk it but to walk it in godliness.

In my own strength, I can not do what He is calling me to do, it is impossible. He can, though. And it is only through His divine power in me that I can. It is not easy, but He warned us it would not be easy. He warned us there would be fiery trials even unto death. Amid the fiery trials, we must continue to daily take up our cross and crucify our flesh, thereby escaping “the corruption that is in the world by lust.” 

So moment by moment, hour by hour, and day by day we have a choice to make. Will we indulge the selfish desires, the lusts of our flesh, succumbing to the fiery darts of the enemy and in so doing deny the divine power that is within us? Or, will we crucify our flesh and cling with all our might to “His precious and magnificent promises”? May we always choose Him and His promises, knowing that through them His divine power is unleashed in us to victoriously withstand every assault launched against us.

I pray that I will never fail to appreciate the incomprehensible magnitude of the gift of power available to me through the divine nature. May my heart cry always resonate with that of my precious daughter in exclaiming with heartfelt excitement, “We get to participate in His divine nature! I mean how awesome is that?”