Peace for the taking
How often do you hear people use the word peace to describe their lives today? What about to describe the cultural climate? Ok, what about even to describe their church?
It's not really a word we hear too much unless it's during a crisis, either personal or global (war, etc). Peace is something that we all crave. Yet it sometimes seems so elusive.
What if I pointed out a simple formula to achieve peace? Would I "buy it"? Would you? Or would we go on doing life as normal, same modus operandi, same results?
Well, read this: "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand" (Phil. 4:6-7).
Paul lays it out so nicely there doesn't he? Just do these couple of things and the peace of God is yours for the taking...and by the way, it's MIND-BLOWING! You won't be able to make sense of the peace you'll have because God is that good!
The key to all of this, though, is truly trusting God. When I begin to worry...and yes, I'm no amateur at that...I'm definitely not trusting God's sovereignty in my life. I, in a sense, I stage a coup and take control of myself again. And where does it lead? Well, let's just say that peace is not the final destination.
When I get to know God better, understand who He is, what He wants for my life, I come to see that He alone is the only wholly (and holy) trustworthy authority for my life. When I do that, restoring His reign in me, and allow Him to change my priorities and mindset it becomes so much easier to let go of worry and embrace thankfulness for God's work in my life. That change is the source of the peace Paul talks about.
I'm encouraged this morning, and hope you are too, that peace is ours for the taking. Even in these difficult times when worry abounds, we have God's promise. We just need to trust and turn to Him!
It's not really a word we hear too much unless it's during a crisis, either personal or global (war, etc). Peace is something that we all crave. Yet it sometimes seems so elusive.
What if I pointed out a simple formula to achieve peace? Would I "buy it"? Would you? Or would we go on doing life as normal, same modus operandi, same results?
Well, read this: "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand" (Phil. 4:6-7).
Paul lays it out so nicely there doesn't he? Just do these couple of things and the peace of God is yours for the taking...and by the way, it's MIND-BLOWING! You won't be able to make sense of the peace you'll have because God is that good!
The key to all of this, though, is truly trusting God. When I begin to worry...and yes, I'm no amateur at that...I'm definitely not trusting God's sovereignty in my life. I, in a sense, I stage a coup and take control of myself again. And where does it lead? Well, let's just say that peace is not the final destination.
When I get to know God better, understand who He is, what He wants for my life, I come to see that He alone is the only wholly (and holy) trustworthy authority for my life. When I do that, restoring His reign in me, and allow Him to change my priorities and mindset it becomes so much easier to let go of worry and embrace thankfulness for God's work in my life. That change is the source of the peace Paul talks about.
I'm encouraged this morning, and hope you are too, that peace is ours for the taking. Even in these difficult times when worry abounds, we have God's promise. We just need to trust and turn to Him!
posted by Michael Shattuck at
6:18 AM
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