無所不在無所不知的神最清楚事情發展的真相，衪是賜慈愛憐憫公義的神，當神成就一些人所意想不到的事情時，我們當全然信靠順服祂。馬太福音 16:21-23節說：「從此，耶穌才指示門徒，祂必須上耶路撒冷去，受長老、祭司長、文士許多的苦，並且被殺，第三日復活。 彼得就拉著祂，勸祂說：「主啊，萬不可如此！這事必不臨到你身上。」 耶穌轉過來，對彼得說：「撒旦，退我後邊去吧！你是絆我腳的，因為你不體貼神的意思，只體貼人的意思。」
這是主耶穌第一次宣布自己將受難，向門徒啟示十字架的道路。人認識了有神性的基督之後，還必須認識救贖代死的基督，接受衪的救恩之後方能與神和好重生進天國。這時彼得與門徒尚不明白十字架的救贖恩典，不能理解十字架竟然是成就神永恆的救贖的唯一方法。彼得似乎沒有聽到「第三日復活」這一句最重要的話，只聽到了「受苦」和「被殺」，他所注意的僅是人的感覺，懷著悲痛之心的彼得則說：「主啊，萬不可如此！這事必不臨到你身上。」 彼得悲痛之心、竟然成為「撒但」試探主的工具。「撒但」就是「敵對神、阻擋神」的意思，意味著彼得因為尚不明白「思念天國的事」，所以無法「體貼神的意思」。
在彼得拉著主耶穌勸祂的過程中，馬太福音 16:21-23節同樣表明了我們信徒所共有的掙扎，上帝的話語與教導有時與我們所思所想有所差異。當神實行了一些並不符合我們期望的工作時，我們會感到沮喪茫然、恐懼、甚至憤怒而感到絕望。
當我們所思念的與神的計劃不一致時，我們認為自己的想法高於神的意念，我們就會與上帝之間有了隔閡，產生了不協調乃至衝突。有時我們認為我們這種分歧並不重要，無可厚非沒有什麼大不了的，但主耶穌對彼得的回應明顯並非如此。當門徒把自己的心思意念放在短暫屬世的視野上時，就會忽略了神所賜的是上好的且有永恆的價值，會被魔鬼的謊言所迷惑，轉移了注意力，失去了應有的信靠與順服。弟兄姊妹們，但願我們不會被魔鬼的謊言所迷惑而喪失了信心，阻擋了我們去順服主。
請記住，弟兄姊妹們，上帝的意念遠遠超過我們的所思所想，因為祂是永恆和無所不知的神。祂話語中的一切都是真實的，並且「於教訓、督責、使人歸正、教導人學義都是有益的。」(提摩太後書 3:16)，彼得拉著主耶穌勸祂的經歷足以警惕並再一次地提醒我們衪是全知全能的神，我們理當全然信靠和順服衪。阿們！
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Translation:
The Common Struggle of Believers Pastor Bernie Chung
The omnipresent and omniscient God knows the truth of how things are going. We can trust and obey God even when He does something unexpected.
Matthew 16:22-23 says: “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.””
This was the first time that the Lord Jesus announced to His disciples His impending suffering and revealed to them the way of the cross. After we know about the divine Christ, we should also know that Christ died to redeem us. Accepting Christ’s salvation is prerequisite for reconciliation with God and entering the Kingdom of Heaven. At that time, Peter could not understand the salvation grace of the cross, and that the cross is the way to accomplish God's eternal redemption. It seems that Peter did not hear the phrase "on the third day be raised to life", but only heard "suffer many things" and “must be killed”. Peter was consumed by human emotion and his own feelings. Out of his compassionate heart he said: “Never, Lord! This Shall never happen to you!” Peter’s sympathy and compassion became tools for Satan to tempt Jesus with. The name “Satan” means “to oppose and resist God”. Because Peter paid no attention to the things in the Kingdom of Heaven, he was inconsiderate of God’s will.
Going back to Matthew 16:21-23, Peter’s action of taking Lord Jesus aside and trying to persuade Him represents the common struggle of us believers. When God’s words or teachings contradict our wish and desire, we often feel angry, sad, fearful, or despair, and wonder why God let us down.
Conflict arises between us and God when our desires are not in accordance with God's plan, or when we think our ideals are superior to God's will. While we may think that our disagreement with the Lord is of no great consequence, Lord Jesus tells us otherwise when He admonished Peter. When we believers set our hearts and minds on temporal and worldly values and ignore God’s good and eternal bestowments, we will fall victim to Satan’s lies and deceptions. Brothers and sisters, we must not let worldly distractions and our lack of faith to keep us from trust and obey God. God is eternal and omniscient. let’s not let any initial disbelief or little faith prevent us from obeying the Lord.
Please remember also, brothers and sisters, that God's thoughts are far greater than our thoughts, because He is the eternal and omniscient God. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16 NIV). Peter’s taking Lord Jesus aside to persuade Him reminds us of our own feeble attempt to put our wish over God’s command. God is almighty and omniscient, and He is worthy of our complete trust and obedience. Amen!
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