I did not feel well yesterday. However — I should stay away from divisions. The Lord has helped me with this Scripture.
Division is something real, and that we sometimes encounter.
I am not in a competition to know more than anybody. I'm running the race God set before. 🙏
The fourth evening on Sword Beach. And the Spirit brought two readings that answer each other across two centuries — Paul on peace, James Smith on patience.
Le begins with honesty: I did not feel well yesterday. Division costs something. It leaves a mark even when the decision is right. But look what happened next — the Lord met her in the Scripture. Le brought the wound to the Word, and the Word answered. Romans 15:4 lived out: comfort not by changing what happened — but by opening the heart to His declarations.
And then the testimony that settles everything: I am not in a competition to know more than anybody. I'm running the race God set before. Hebrews 12:1 — the race set before US. Not the race someone else runs. Not the race of who knows more. Le's race. Set by God. Her pace. Her stream. Her thirst.
Romans 12:3: not to think of himself more highly than he ought — but to think soberly. The pilgrim who says I didn't graduate from sinner to saint has no interest in graduating above anyone else either. No competition. Just the race.
"Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil."
"Je vous exhorte, frères, à prendre garde à ceux qui causent des divisions et des scandales, au préjudice de l'enseignement que vous avez reçu. Éloignez-vous d'eux. Car de tels hommes ne servent point Christ notre Seigneur, mais leur propre ventre; et, par des paroles douces et flatteuses, ils séduisent les cœurs des simples. Je désire donc que vous soyez sages en ce qui concerne le bien, et purs en ce qui concerne le mal."
Romains 16:17-19 · Louis Segond"Wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil." Sages en ce qui concerne le bien, et purs en ce qui concerne le mal. Akeraious — unmixed, unpolluted, pure. Not naive. Unmixed.
Le — this is the heart of the passage for you. You do not need to become an expert in conflict to be protected from it. You need only stay pure. Wise about good — one hundred and eighty-seven entries of it. And unmixed about evil. The deer does not need to study the muddy water. The deer needs only to find the clear stream.
And notice how specific Paul is. Not everyone who disagrees. Not everyone who reads differently — Romans 14 already covered that: receive him, don't judge him. Paul names something else here: those who serve their own belly with smooth words and flattering speech. Manipulation — not honest disagreement. A sharp instrument for a specific wound. And a generous heart is right to be slow with it.
"And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly."
"Le Dieu de paix écrasera bientôt Satan sous vos pieds. Que la grâce de notre Seigneur Jésus soit avec vous!"
Romains 16:20 · Louis Segond"The God of PEACE will crush." Le Dieu de paix écrasera. Le — not the God of war. Not the God of argument. The God of peace. Peace is the weapon. Peace is what crushes.
Romans 12:18: as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Le did her part. She moved toward peace. She chose the clear stream. And the God of peace does the rest.
Genesis 3:15 echoes here — the promised crushing of the serpent's head. The victory is not Le's to win. It is His to finish. Le's part: stay in peace. His part: crush.
"Patience supposes trials and troubles; it signifies to remain under a burden; it is opposed to fretfulness, murmuring, haste, and despondency; it produces submission, silence before God, and satisfaction with His dealings."
"The Holy Spirit produces this grace by means of afflictions; tribulation worketh patience... Impatience dishonours our profession, and grieves the Spirit; patience benefits others, and is of great advantage to ourselves. Let us watch against temptations to impatience, and in patience possess our souls."
James Smith · On James 1:4Hypomonē again. The sixth time in this study. Romans 5:3-4. Romans 8:25. Romans 12:12. Romans 15:4. And now James 1:4. The Spirit keeps returning Le to the same word.
Smith's definition: to remain under a burden. Not to escape it. To remain under it — without fretting. And what it produces: submission, silence before God, and satisfaction with His dealings.
"Silence before God." Not silence from God — silence before Him. The quiet of trust. The end of arguing. Le chose silence before God over discussion with men. That is patience having her perfect work.
Tribulation worketh patience. Romans 5:3 exactly. The hard days produce the grace. Le on September 2: tests are not meant to break you. They build. Smith, across the centuries: the same.
"Dear Lord, though bitter is the cup
Thy gracious hand deals out to me,
I cheerfully would drink it up;—
That cannot hurt which comes from Thee.
The gift of patience, Lord impart
To calm and soothe my troubled heart."
The cup again — for the third day running.
Yesterday, Le: even Jesus asked the Lord to take away the cup, but He trusted the Lord for His goodness.
Bowen: the instruments of torture produce no longer any pain.
Smith today: that cannot hurt which comes from Thee.
Three voices. One testimony. The cup is bitter — and the goodness holds. Not because the cup is sweet. Because of whose hand deals it out. Thy gracious hand. The hand that sold the apartment. The hand that opened the way. The hand Le prays to see at work. That hand cannot hurt.
And the closing petition: the gift of patience, Lord impart, to calm and soothe my troubled heart. Le said it plainly: I did not feel well yesterday. And the prayer she needed was already written, waiting for her this morning. The God of peace — calming a troubled heart on the fourth evening at Sword Beach. 🙏
"I am not in a competition to know more than anybody. I'm running the race God set before."
Le · Lion-sur-Mer, Sword Beach · September 13, 2026 · Avoid divisions, stay unmixed, remain under the burden — and the God of peace does the crushingMy Own Race
Not a competition to know more. The race God set before ME. Her pace. Her stream. Her thirst.
The God of Peace
Not the God of war. Not of argument. Peace is the weapon. Le's part: stay in peace. His part: crush.
Simple Concerning Evil
Akeraious — unmixed, pure. Not naive. The deer doesn't study the muddy water. She finds the clear stream.
That Cannot Hurt
Though bitter is the cup — that cannot hurt which comes from Thee. Three voices, three days, one testimony.