He Speaks Peace

 Now may the Lord of peace himself

 give you his peace at all times and in every situation. 

The Lord be with you all.

 2 Thess 3:16 (NLT) 

One of the blessings of seeking, trusting and getting to know God is the blessing of peace.  God offers quietness of heart as an antidote to the feverish activity and strife of our lives.  An orderly and quiet life is a precious treasure.

We know God is interested in our peace.  He is called the God of Peace (Heb 13.20).  He is the author of peace, not confusion (1 Cor 14.53).  One of the symbols of Christ in the Old Testament is Melchizedek, the king of Salem which means king of Peace (Heb. 7.2).  He preached peace (Eph 2.17).  He has called us to peace (1 Cor 7:15).  Practically every book of the New Testament opens and closes with prayers for God's peace.

He especially speaks peace in times of distress or trouble. After his crucifixion, when his disciples were behind locked doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus appeared among them with the words "Peace be with you" (Jn. 20.19). He confronted the boisterous wind and waves of a violent storm with the words, "Quiet! Be still!" (Mk. 4:39).

Feelings of anxiety and fear are natural in the face of trouble, but God is greater than our hearts.  If we give in to feelings of anxiety we will have few resources to handle our problems.  A harmonious state of soul and mind actually encourages the development of the wisdom and power needed to better handle every difficulty.

God values peace.  He speaks peace to the disturbing forces in our lives. As we open our hearts to him, as we cast all of our cares on him, his peace will rule in every situation.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.

Col 3:15 (NIV)

The Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier writes these beautiful words:

Drop Thy still dews of quietness

Till all our strivings cease;

Take from our souls the strain and stress, 

And let our ordered lives confess

 The beauty of Thy peace.

Listen to the hymn:
Dear Lord and Father of Mankind

More Than Conquerors

 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors

through him who loved us.

Romans 8:37 (NIV)

So many troubles and problems assault us in this life.  It is so hard for us to go through difficult times, our emotions are so intense.  Fearful feelings, anxiety and worry overwhelm us.

When we are in this state, it is hard for us to imagine ourselves as conquerors, victorious over every thing that life throws at us. It is hard for us to see how our failings and weaknesses could be woven together for good. 

Paul recounts his own struggle: 

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 

But he said to me, 

"My grace is sufficient for you,

for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 

That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. 

For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (NIV) 

We can only hold onto God's promise with what little strength we have. God is faithful. He is holding on to us with a firm grip even when it feels like our grip is failing. For,  "It is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."(Heb. 6:18,19) 

He will bring us through. No trouble, hardship or problem can ever separate us from God.  Hold on!

Enough

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,

 for tomorrow will worry about itself. 

Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matt 6:34 (NIV)

As we look to the future, many fears may arise.  We may be afraid of getting sick, of getting cancer, that a loved one will die or leave us, that we may lose our job or become financially insecure.  We may be afraid that our children will get into trouble.  All of these fears grow in our minds and torment us.

When the Apostle Paul was tormented, facing great difficulty in his life, the Lord told him, “My grace is enough.”  God's grace is enough for whatever we face. Jesus taught us to take a day at a time and not to worry about the future.  Each day’s troubles are enough for that day.  Today’s grace is enough to cover today's troubles. 

The thing about grace is that it is only available for the immediate situation.  Just like manna, we can't store it up for tomorrow (Exodus 16:17-19). When tomorrow becomes today, his grace will be there.  Whatever situation arises, his grace will be enough - the greater the trial, the greater the grace.  Grace is always sufficient.

He said to me, "My grace is enough for you,

 for my power is made perfect in weakness."

2 Cor 12:9 (NET)

Snare

The Lord is my light and my salvation-- 

whom shall I fear? 

The Lord is the stronghold of my life--

 of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalms 27:1 (NIV)

Another source of fear in our lives comes in our relationships.  We may feel intimidated by others or afraid to confront.  We may become passive, not standing up for ourselves or what we believe in.

God is a God of justice.  It is his desire that each person be treated fairly and with respect.  He works in us to correct any situation that is not according to this standard. If someone treats us disrespectfully or with injustice, God is our advocate.  If we treat someone else unfairly, God will correct us. 

Understanding our position in Christ keeps us from falling into the trap of fearing others or giving them too much power over us.  God wants us to be submissive one to another, but it is a voluntary submission not something forced by fear, manipulation or threat. 

Putting hope and trust in other human beings can leave us disappointed.  Humans always fall short.  Perhaps you have been caught in the snare of putting too much trust in someone only to find that they have let you down. 

What others say and do doesn't really matter.  Well, of course, it does matter very much because we are so dependent on each other.  The difference is that if we have made God our refuge and strength what other people do will not have a devastating effect upon us.  If the unchangeable God is our source then from him we will gain the strength to do the right thing even when the words and actions of others disappoint or hurt us.  We may need to wisely confront, or to overlook but always with the strength of God's love dictating our responses and actions.

This is freedom from fear.  We know that no matter what others do we will be safe and secure in God's care and he will give us the wisdom to respond to each situation with love and peace.  This is the freedom of God's spirit.  Lord, grant us more of your spirit for each moment and each day.

 Fearing people is a dangerous trap,

 but trusting the Lord means safety. 

 Prov 29:25 (NLT)

The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.

 What can mere people do to me?  

 Psalms 118:6 (NLT)

Fearless

So you should not be like cowering, fearful slaves. 

 You should behave instead like God's very own children,

 adopted into his family - calling him Father, dear Father.

 For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts 

and tells us that we are God's children. 

 Romans 8:15-16 (NLT)

Another benefit of being filled with God's spirit is freedom from fear.  There are many things that can cause fear to arise in us.  We may not know God very well and imagine him to be an arbitrary and cruel dictator waiting to crush us at the first misstep.  Or, we may be living in fear of others, always trying to please and never being ourselves.  Or, we may fear the future wondering if something bad will happen to us.  God's word addresses each one of these fears.

First, when we come to know and experience the fullness of God's love it changes our whole perspective.  His spirit joins with our spirit giving us assurance that we are his children and have nothing to fear. We no longer cower before him but begin to develop a trusting relationship.  We begin to call him Father, dear Father.

Fear has to do with punishment, but God does not punish us because Jesus has already taken all of the punishment we deserve.  He does discipline us, though. As a loving father he disciplines us as we need it for our growth and development, but we need not fear his actions knowing that they will always be for our good.   

Love crowds out fear.  As his love is perfected in us, our fears begin to subside.  The more we understand and experience God's love the less fear and apprehension we will have.  If we know we are his and he our loving father there will be no room for fear.

Lord, help us to come to know deep in our hearts that we belong to you and that you are our loving father from whom we have nothing to fear.  

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear.

 If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment,

 and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.

1 John 4:18 (NLT)