Trusting Peace

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to 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 (NASB)

So often we fail in having/experiencing peace where we have no control over a situation or outcome. Yes, we believed in Jesus for our salvation and we have peace about our sins and salvation, but as we grow, we find other areas of our life that we withhold from God, maybe not intentionally, but withheld it is. How do we know we do this? We are frantic, agitated, and have no peace and no rest. We scramble trying to make “it” work or trying to change an outcome. We worry about a person, a job, a home, anything really. This shows us we are not at peace. It shows we have not given everything to God to take care of. We haven’t entrusted that person, situation, or thing into His care wanting His perfect will. Why? We are afraid and don’t trust God. We are afraid pain may be involved-pain in our hearts. We are afraid God won’t give us what we want.

This fear, this being afraid, does not come from God, but from Satan. He uses our humanness to desire things knowing they contradict God’s perfect will for our lives. Satan uses our human frailness of desire to lead us not to trust God completely. He leans into us and we lean away from God. Fear becomes a resident emotion. It stays until we trust God and give to Him that part of our lives-the person, situation, or thing with which we wrestle for our own outcome. To grasp the peace of God, we must let go of our desire for these finite things and instead desire God, trust Him and hold onto Him. We should pray for the strength to grasp the peace of God. God’s peace is everlasting and is not fleeting like the peace the world gives. Getting that thing, conquering that situation, or gaining that person’s trust, allegiance, and/or covenant gives peace only for a time, not for eternity. Fear then will return. If we grasp onto God by trusting Him in that situation instead of trying to take care of it ourselves, then God’s peace given to us will carry us through as we trust Him and follow Him with obedience.

Often it seems easier to get the peace the world offers because we can work at it for ourselves. The work ethic has taught us self-sufficiency. “Why ask God for something I can do myself,” is often what we think. When we do this, we make ourselves our god instead of seeking God’s will and letting Him provide what we need and sometimes what we want. When we gain what we want through the actions of our own hands, we have peace, but it doesn’t last. We realize too late we didn’t seek God, trust Him, and get His peace. It seems hard to keep hold of the trust in God that gives His peace. Our trust is imperfect; yet we say, “But I trust Him, I trusted Him for my salvation. Doesn’t that mean I trust Him?” Trust in God grows in us as we seek Him and His perfect will. God permits us to make decisions. Those times of decision are where we can exercise trust in Him, grow more like Christ, and gain peace.

How do we do trust God more? How do we re-orient our minds so that we seek God first instead of striving for ourselves to gain what we want? We must go back to the time of our salvation and then walk through our memories recalling the times God worked in our lives. These spiritual markers remind us of who God has been for us, what characteristics of God we saw at work in each of those situations. To trust God for our current situation(s), we must remember His love, grace, and mercy that provided salvation for us. He still loves us and wants good for us. Paul stated this same thing in Romans 8:28 when he said, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

As we continue our walk through our memory garden of spiritual markers, we arrive at a marker that reminds us of God’s power, might and dominion. That marker came from the moment we recognized God created us with His creative power and provided for and protected us with His mighty hand. He is greater and mightier than all things created. That is when we also realized He is Ruler; He has dominion over all. We realized we could trust Him to do what He said He would do. We realized He would take care of all our needs. Now we must take that trust that comes from believing these things and more. Don’t let it be hidden from our hearts and minds. Receive God’s peace because of it. He is Lord over all. Nothing defeats Him or surprises Him.

God already has the plan to take care of our situations for which we thought we had to strive. We must trust His heart and receive the peace He gives through His indwelling Holy Spirit. Remember, Jesus said to His disciples in John 14 He would send His Spirit to teach and bring to remembrance all He said. The Holy Spirit is the Helper. He will remind us of God’s truth.

Trusting God and receiving His peace sounds easy when we step back to gain perspective. That process of stepping back from our situation is the first step toward peace. Our humanness gets in the way of seeing and/or obeying God and skews our perspective if we don’t step back. When we step back, we realize we are not the god of our lives. We realize we will not receive lasting peace if we seek our own will. When we step back, we recognize God is bigger than our circumstance and our desires. These do not define or limit Him. He is still Master and defines and limits our situation. God provides the correct way and that gives perfect peace. Doing this, stepping back and letting God take control of the situation, grows our trust in Him. It gives us another spiritual marker upon which to look back in the future to remind us of when God led the way, gave us the better way, and gave us lasting peace.

Having peace requires effort on our part. That effort is stepping back and trusting God’s perfect will to effect the best plan for our situation. Christ offers peace. He said in John 14:27, “Peace I give you.” We must accept and grasp Christ’s peace by stepping back and letting God be Lord of our lives. We are each works in progress. None of us on this side of heaven is completely remade into the image of God. We are daily being made more like Jesus. We must daily set our hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1). We must take to heart, and put into our minds and spirits, the final phrase of John 14:27. He said, “Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” Jesus gives peace, lasting peace, unlike what the world gives. Will we step back from our situations, see God as our Lord, the mighty, powerful Ruler, and trust and obey Him in the situation? We should not trust in ourselves to deliver us from our situations and desires, but rather we should trust in God who raises the dead, creates all things, and loves and saves us from our sins. (2 Corinthians 1:8-10) Trusting and obeying God gives perfect, lasting peace.

“Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

Stones - For Glory or Dishonor?

   

            I have been pondering Absalom's treasonous act against David, the divinely appointed king of Israel, and Absalom's death and burial. Specifically, I have been pondering the significance of his dishonorable burial under a pile of stones instead of under the pillar he erected as a memorial to himself or in the burial place of kings and princes. While considering these things, I began recalling the significance of stones in the Bible. These daily devotions take you through what I have read and considered. Hopefully they will lead you to your rightful place, the Church of God, where He has provided the Cornerstone. 

Monday: Read Genesis 32:22-33:20. Altars were called Ebenezers, too. Ebenezer translated from the Hebrew means “stone of help.” Who set up a stone altar? Why? What was the place named because of it? El Elohe means “mighty is the God of Israel.” What did this ebenezar show about God? This was a spiritual marker of an important place where Jacob had an encounter with God. Jacob gave God a sacrifice of praise here.  

Tuesday: Read Genesis 35. Who set up this stone altar? Why? What was the place named because of it? Bethel means “house of God.” This altar/ebenezar was also set up because of an encounter Jacob had with God. God is given a sacrifice of praise here, too.  

Wednesday: Read Joshua 4:5-9. Who set up a stone altar here? Who told them to do it? Why? This altar was set up as a reminder, as a spiritual marker, an ebenezar, so the Israelites always remember God gave them the victory and their own land as He had promised. 

Thursday: Read Joshua 7:20-26.  What was the pile of stones a reminder of in Achor? Achor means “trouble.” Not the spiritual markers/reminders/ebenezars we will have as Christians will remind us of good things God did for us. Sometimes God disciplines us to get us to go on the right path and grow. These will be spiritual markers, too.  

Friday: Read 1 Samuel 7:1-12. Who set up a stone altar here? Who told them to do it? Why? This altar was set up as a reminder of how God gave them the final victory over their enemy. This stone was a remembrance to Israel that “thus far the Lord has helped us.”  

Saturday: Read 1 Peter 2:4-8. Who is this Living Stone? Are we supposed to be reminded of God by this stone, too? Is this stone special for everyone? No, these spiritual stones of the past and this Living Stone are special only for those to whom God has taught/helped/called. God calls each of us to come to Him. If we call Jesus our Living Stone, then we also become stones built according to the Father to become an altar proclaiming His praises and calling others to come out of their darkness to “this marvelous Light.” We become the stones making an altar of praise to God for people to see God and come to His light. Are you letting Him do that, to use you as a lighthouse beacon for His Light? Have you decided to become a part of His Church to be built in the way He wants others to see Him? You are a “chosen” person, a loved child. He wants to shelter, lead, and forgive you, too, just as David wanted to shelter and forgive his son, Absalom, who chose not to accept it. Absalom’s grave with stones mounted upon it became a marker for Israel to remind them not to run away from God, but return to Him. God had to discipline Absalom for attempting to overthrow the divinely anointed king, David.