Peace

Anxiety and distress are often the result of our misplaced focus.  We are too easily discouraged by the duties and difficulties of life.  It is true that there are many things that require our attention but it is for this reason that we must be diligent to ground ourselves in the provision, promises and person of God.

The Lord, our God, wants for us to have peace.  Christ declared this Himself, “peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27).

He gives us His peace and commands us that we maintain that peace, even in the midst of stressful/anxiety causing circumstances.  “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 comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7).  This command, “be anxious for nothing” is supported by this directive “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  Do not remain in a continued state of anxiety, instead in every circumstance pray with thanksgiving to God.

Yes, pray and give your anxieties to the Lord.  But why “with thanksgiving?”  Elsewhere we are commanded “in everything give thanks for this is the will of God for you in Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  It is God’s will that we be thankful people.  That makes sense because God is good thus it is good for us to give Him thanks.  But it is more than that.  For when we give thank, when we make a discipline of giving thanks, we are forced to think on the goodness of God to us in the past.  And certainly as we are made to recall the goodness of God to us in the past we are encouraged as we face the uncertainties of tomorrow.  Thus God has built into His command “give thanks” one of the primary mechanisms of our encouragement in turbulent times.  Remember His provision.

Take time this week to try to list as many things as possible for which you may give thanks.  Review them together with your family or friends and give thanks for the goodness of the Lord.

Again, the Lord wants for us to have peace.  He gives us His peace and commands us to abide in His peace by remembering His provisions as we make supplication before Him.  Additionally we are reminded in 1 Peter 1:3 that we have been “born again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.”  The world hopes in that which is passing.  The Christian hopes in that which is eternal.  We have a Savior whom death itself could not hold!  And this same Savior who promised that He would rise again, has secured for us an inheritance which is “imperishable, undefiled and will not fade away reserved in heaven for us” (I Peter 1:4).  This is the manifold grace of God, not just that He has saved us in the past, but much more that He has promised future grace to us.  Thus Peter also says “…fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 1:13).  Fix your hope on that grace.  Set your affections on that grace.  Remember His promise.

Take time this week to talk with another believer (or unbeliever) of the hope that we have of future grace.  Encourage one another with these precious truths.

Finally as we were reminded through our Sermon on Sunday, “the nearness of God is our good.”  We need not fret when we see evildoers prosper.  We need not envy their prosperity.  Their prosperity is empty and fleeting.  As a vapor it will soon disappear.  And its place will be filled with the horror of the wrath of the Almighty God.  But not so for the believer.  The believer is made to know the goodness of the Lord in the present and has as His hope a greater experience of the goodness of God in the future.  Indeed we say joyfully with David, “the nearness of God is my good!”  Remember His person.

Stay close to the Lord this week.  Do whatever you must to make sure that your thoughts are ever with Him.

We are too easily discouraged by the difficulties and duties of life.  The Lord, our God desires for us to be a people filled with His peace.  To this end, we must be diligent to remind ourselves of His provision, His promise and of the goodness of His person.

I pray that the Lord would grant you His peace this week as you continue to labor for His glory!

“The steadfast mind you will keep in perfect peace because He trusts in you” Isaiah 26:3

Perspective

Perspective is all about point of view. Uh, right. Of course it is. Well, as I was contemplating life just a little while I ago, I realized something. Well, the Lord brought a number of things to my remembrance and it just made sense.

I was lying on the floor next to my youngest daughter earlier and my wife walked by and I noticed how incredibly big she looked from that vantage point. And I was thinking that my little girl probably thought that we were huge whenever we walked by her tiny little body.

A little later when we got back from the store I took a short walk. I intended to pray but didn’t really know what to say to the Lord. It was weird because I had taken several walks a couple of weeks ago that yielded some great prayer. But today I had nothing. It was a little discouraging until I was reminded of the verse “be still/cease striving and know that I am God.” So I thought that perhaps I didn’t need to say anything but simply to quiet my heart and mind a little and to contemplate God.

What occurred to me in that moment, as I was tempted to think about all of the little issues of my life instead of God, was that the aforementioned verse is all about perspective. As I go through life, striving about to solve all of lifes woes and difficulties, I am often as a small child looking up at all of the massive objects circling around my tiny defenseless head. It can be overwhelming and often scary. However when I consider the way the world (and me in it) look from God’s perspective, I realize that me and my problems are not so great at all.

“Be still and know that I am God,” He says. Stop looking at the world from your perspective and remember that He is God. Is there any time when God looks up at something that is greater than He?.. The exhortation for us then is not to get down on ourselves when we become worried or overwhelmed. But to stop and remember who this God is who is on our side. He is not some insignificant, powerless, limited being who is caught off guard by the ebb and flow of our lives. He is God Almighty. He is the God who Sees. He is Lord of heaven and earth. For we agree with the very first verse in scripture which reads simply and matter-of-factly “In the beginning God…(and if that were not enough)…created the Heavens and the Earth.”

To which all of us, though finite and frail, join in with the choir of angels who cry out “You are worthy our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being.”

Cease striving. He is God. Period.