Got Peace?

“Be Anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6-7

Peace. Everyone wants it, but few find it. It is elusive to most. Ever wonder why? My theory is that few people slow down enough to have peace overtake them. We are in constant movement. Always. If not physically. mentally. Even the peace of sleep eludes many.

In this day and age, we must learn the skill of keeping ourselves in peace. God’s word says, “You (God) will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts You (Isa. 26:3).” There are so many burdens we carry in this thing called life. Children, finances, spouses, parents, careers, fear, strife, drama, chaos, (and now the Coronavirus!), etc. Everybody is in a hurry these days. How often do we decide to drop out of the rat race and just be for a while?

I have found that I am able to do this once I have gone to God and released all my burdens to Him. He is so much more capable of bearing them than I am! God calls us His sheep. Have you ever known a sheep to carry anything? They are not burden-bearing animals like donkeys or horses. You also weren’t made to carry burdens. Jesus died so that we could bring our burdens to Him. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened and I will give you rest (Matt 11:28).”

Taking a few moments each day to allow the Lord to lead you beside still waters so He can restore your soul (Psa 23:1-2) is necessary especially with the craziness we all live in these days. Take your burdens to Him and leave them there. Then if you find yourself worrying about that issue, say to yourself, “No! I gave that to the Lord to handle and He’s handling it!” Rest assured Beloved, He is indeed handling it!

As you learn to trust Him, you’ll start to see Him move on your behalf. Trust Him for He is trustworthy and worrying will not add a single inch to your stature (Matt 6:25-34)! He loves you and has good plans for you, to give you a hope and a future (Jer 29:11-14)! When you decide in your heart (and it is indeed a decision!) that God is for you, not against you (Rom. 8:31) and that He loves you with an everlasting love that is beyond human understanding, trusting Him will get easier. I say this as someone who lived for years as a Christian “waiting for the other shoe to drop” and didn’t even know it! I lived in constant fear because I thought that my life was just too good and believed that something bad must be about to happen to take it all away! That is the spirit of fear, which God did NOT give us, but rather He gave us power, love and a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7)!

Hard things happen in life. I get it. But nothing is too hard for God to turn it around and use it for good (Rom. 8:28). God is so good, all the time! If He doesn’t give us what we ask in prayer, that only means He has something better in mind! Something in mind that is exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us (Eph. 3:20). I encourage you to learn to trust God in all things, which means bringing your worry to Him and leaving it there. No longer mulling over it. Start with the small things and watch what He does! He is waiting to prove Himself trustworthy.

If you feel condemned or are beating yourself up for failing as I used to do often, please know that there is NO CONDEMNATION in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). So please hear my heart here: Nobody is perfect. God knows that and His grace is sufficient to cover over every mistake. This Christian life is a journey. We mess up, but God is always faithful to forgive us when we repent. Repentance is not a bad thing! It simply means to change your mind. God NEVER condemns us, but rather gently convicts us. If you feel condemned, that is the enemy of our souls talking to you, not God.

In light of this Coronavirus ordeal, it is the perfect opportunity to work on trusting Him. He loves you so much and wants you to know that you will come through this. Review His promises in Matthew 6: 25-34:

²⁵ “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one ^[j]cubit to his ^[k]stature?

²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not ^[l]arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

A note about the above article: God gave me most of this first blog post last year almost to the day on March 21st. I just wrote it down and I had no idea what was to come when He gave it to me! I just knew He wanted me to start a blog, but very few details did He give me at the time. This morning He reminded me of it and told me that it’s time to post! I had totally forgotten what it was about, so when I reread it after all this time, I was amazed at oh how pertinent it is for right now! I hope it is an encouragement to you! God is SO GOOD! He has been preparing me this last year for such a time as this in so many ways! I would love to hear how God has been preparing you for such a time as this! Please comment below and let’s encourage one another with the things God is doing in your world! Nothing is insignificant! Let’s give Him ALL the glory for what He is doing for He is good!!