“Therefore I tell you, do not
worry about your life, what
you will eat or drink; or about
your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food, and
the body more than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air;
they do not sow or reap or store
away in barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable
than they?”
Matthew 6:25, 26
Years ago we were going through something and my husband was talking to his mom about it. Her response to him was, “Well, isn’t that what your faith is for?” And of course she was exactly right.
There are times when trials come and our faith has the opportunity to be exercised.
Not long before Jesus was going to leave His friends and this world, He told them, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
He knew their lives would not be easy. Their world would be filled with suffering and danger and persecution and they could be tempted to fall back into their human emotions of fear and anxiety.
Of course we’re no different today.
Emotions can be contagious, and if we’re not careful we can get caught up in the world’s anxiety.
But Paul reminded us to “…not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:6-7)
The word “peace” that Paul talks about is the same word Jesus used when He told His friends He was leaving them His peace. It means one, quietness, rest, set at one again,” and comes from a verb (an action word!) meaning to join.
As we join our hearts, spirits, and minds to the Lord in prayer, He will quiet our souls and give us rest. He will fill us with not just any peace, but His peace.
Jesus said His peace would be different than the world’s. The world can only have peace (maybe) when there is no trial, no suffering, when everything in life seems good.
But Jesus’ peace isn’t dependent on outward circumstances; it comes from within. Just as Jesus promised to send His friends the Comforter, He has filled us with His Holy Spirit so we can live in His peace no matter what’s going on, even if our flesh and the world wonders why we aren’t panicked. We are gifted with His Spirit and can have His peace even when it makes no sense at all.
We don’t have to be anxious. As we take everything that concerns us to our loving and compassionate Heavenly Father, He will exchange our anxiety for His peace.
And as we’re filled with His peace, the light of Christ shines through us, and nowhere does the light of Christ shine more than in the darkness.
While the world panics, we can pray to the One who knows all things and controls all things. We can stop, pray, let the Lord quiet our souls from within, and be a beacon of Christ’s love and peace in the midst of trials and in the face of the unknown.
And who knows just how many might see Christ shining through us, and ask us why we have such peace.
Who knows what God may do in answer to years of prayers for revival, as we determine to live with the peace of God in our hearts and our lives.
I think about Jesus’ friends and all they went through all the way up to their deaths as they proclaimed Christ, spreading the gospel throughout the world, and I wonder how many times His words filled their hearts and minds and comforted them. We are their brothers and sisters when we do the same.
Take it from 6-year-old Cameron Brundidge:
“But God did not give me a spirit of fear, but power, love, and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Amen, sweetie.
My son Brandon has crippling fear cause of his #autism. His sister taught him a scripture she learned at @FellowshipMiss2 Church to help. Stop letting your fear of #Coronavirus be bigger than your faith in God. Plead The Blood, pray and wash your hands. Amen! pic.twitter.com/R2nnSDo3EA
— SHELETTA (@ShelettaIsFunny) March 13, 2020
Oh Almighty God, Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, we come to you and ask that you fill us with your peace that surpasses all understanding. Help us walk in the Spirit and not in our flesh. Help us think about things that are true, and noble, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable, and excellent, and praiseworthy… Keep reminding us to pray for one another, and to pray that the world will take notice of the love and peace we have, and remember that we are also people who have put our faith in you, and we pray you would draw people to you through our faith. Help us to be a light right now, Lord. We pray you would give us the words to tell anyone who asks about the reason for our hope. May you pour out your Spirit on all people, and bring revival to our weary world. In Jesus’ holy and precious name, amen.
Heavenly Father, we praise you. We praise you for who you are and for all you do.
Father, we need you desperately, and yet there are times when we press into you more, pray more, read more, that we then begin to feel attacks from the enemy. But you are with us, Lord.
Please give us focus and wisdom to “be alert and of sober mind. [Our] enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Give us strength to “resist him, standing firm in the faith, because [we] know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)
We lift up our fellow believers all over the world who are facing severe persecution. Please, Holy Spirit, we ask that your presence would fill jail cells and other places where believers have fled, that you would fill them with your peace that passes all understanding when they are tortured, when they are hated, and rejected. We pray you would lift them up and encourage their spirits because the joy of the Lord is their strength. And remind them that their very great reward is with you.
Help us stay focused, Lord. No matter how the enemy tries to throw us off course, discourage us, make us feel unloved, unneeded, and unwanted, remind us Who has called us. Remind us Who loves us, Who died for us, and Who gives us purpose every single day.
Remind us that when we feel the enemy’s breath, he’s there because we have become a threat to him, because through our prayers You, the Almighty God, moves mountains, changes hearts, and pulls souls back from the brink of hell.
Encourage us to keep pressing in, to keep praying, to keep reading, no matter what, and even more as the day grows nearer to your return.
Like Isaiah, we say “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near.” Isaiah 50:7-8a
We pray it all in the mighty, precious, holy name of Jesus, amen.
