Let me start off with words from a powerful
song (Your Peace) by my friend Kenny K’ore
You didn’t say there’ll be no painYou didn’t say there’ll be no sorrow
You didn’t say there’ll be no struggles
What You said is, You’ll always be there
I know You’re here
I know You’re near
I know You’re here
Don’t always feel You
But I know You’re here
Things don’t always have to go right
Things don’t always have to go right
Things don’t always have to go right
No! Things don’t always have to go right
I can just close my eyes
And shut the world out
I can just close my eyes
And let You into me
Your peace I find
Your Peace I find
In the middle of the storm
Your peace I find
Your peace I find
When the thunder roars
Your peace I find
Your peace I find
As the battle rages on
Your peace I find
Your peace I find
It’s like water washing over me
Is it possible to be in the midst of great
trials and still have peace?
Is there a kind of peace that cannot be shaken
by trouble, danger, or sorrow?
If we look at what our Lord Jesus said in
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor
let it be fearful”. He made this
statement the night before He died in agony, which implies that He had peace in
the midst of trouble.
The biblical concept of peace, therefore, does not focus on the absence of trouble.
Biblical peace is unrelated to circumstances; it is a goodness of life that is not touched by what is happening.. This peace enables its carriers to remain calm in the most fearful circumstances, to hush a cry, still a riot, rejoice in pain and trial, and sing in the face of suffering. It is this peace that brings the JOY we talked about in the 2nd part of the series.
“Long ago a man sought the perfect picture of peace. Not finding one that
satisfied, he announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge
stirred the imagination of artists everywhere, and paintings arrived from far
and wide. Finally the great day of revelation arrived. The judges uncovered one
peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered.
The tensions grew. Only two pictures remained
veiled. As a judge pulled the cover from one, a hush fell over the crowd.
A mirror-smooth lake reflected lacy, green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. Surely this was the winner.
The man with the vision uncovered the second painting himself, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace?
A tumultuous waterfall cascaded down a rocky precipice; the crowd could almost feel its cold, penetrating spray. Stormy-gray clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and rain. In the midst of the thundering noises and bitter chill, a spindly tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls. One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power.
A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs. With her eyes closed and her wings ready to cover her little ones, she manifested peace that transcends all earthly turmoil”. – Berit Kjos (A wardrobe from the King)
This
is the kind of peace that Paul speaks about in Philippians 4:7
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Because
the peace of God is not based on circumstances like the world's definition of peace,
it doesn't always make sense to the “normal” human mind. Apostle Paul called it
a peace that surpasses comprehension. It makes no sense that such peace could
exist in the midst of the problems and troubles a Christian goes through. But
this is divine, supernatural peace; it cannot be figured out on a human level.
This peace has only one source…our
Lord Jesus said in John 16:33 “These
things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.
In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome
the world.”
The phrase “…not as the world gives do I give to you” tells us something… the world has its own version
of peace. The main difference is that it does not last, it is shallow and
unfulfilling. This is the kind of peace that people seek through alcohol,
drugs, or other forms of escapism. It encourages you to put your blinders on,
go to bed and try to forget the problem. But what happens when you wake up?
This is not peace….it is only a momentary tranquility.
Apostle
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:8-11 “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but
not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the
life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are
constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of
Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh”
He
painted a vivid picture of what he’s been through and in verses 16 through 18
He said
“Therefore we do not lose
heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed
day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal
weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are
seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal”.
That
is PEACE.
Perfect
peace comes when our focus is off the problem, off the trouble, off the danger,
and constantly on Christ. It does
not mean we are living in denial, it only means we know that it will surely
pass. We choose to believe what God is saying over what we see. We choose to
let God be true and everything else a lie. We choose to let the joy of knowing
Him overwhelm the transient sorrow of the present situation. We choose to see
God as faithful.
God's
peace comes to those with the personal discipline to stop in the midst of the
maelstrom of life and take time to seek Him.
One
of the conditions for peace is that we focus our attention on God and on knowing
Him. “You will keep perfectly peaceful the one whose
mind remains focused on You, because he remains in You”. Isaiah 26:3.
Psalm
46 says
God is
our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in troubleTherefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. Though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day
How
will my relationship reflect this peace of God that I carry inside of me?
What
will I do differently in my relationship, as a child of God that has the fruit
of the spirit?
A
peaceful home/relationship is not one without arguments or “fighting” (trust
me, Christian couples fight too)…there will be troubling and trying times…there
will be issues and there will be quarrelling. There may even be battles but
remember that peace is not the absence of troubles…it is the calmness that
comes from knowing God and knowing that He is in control.
Accept that Storms are normal in life – Even Jesus had a taste of this while He was here in the
flesh. He said in Luke 22:42 “Father,
if You are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me…” He then said “…not my will, but yours, be done." I see that as making peace with
reality. And the moment he did that, the Bible makes us realize that “Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him,
strengthening Him…” There
is strength in yielding to the will of God, accepting the things we cannot
change and trusting that God knows exactly what He is doing. Do not wallow in self-pity;
yield to His will and peace will envelope your heart.
Pray for His Presence in your
home/relationship – Invite
Jesus into your home/relationship. What if He was not on the boat with the
Apostles during the storm? There is a reason one of his names is Prince
Of Peace. Charles Wesley said “I rest
beneath the Almighty’s shade, my grieves expire, my troubles cease; Thou, Lord,
on whom my soul is stayed, Wilt keep me still in perfect peace”. Romans 15:33 also says The God
of peace be with you all
(During Conflict) Be compassionate in
confrontation - When
you attack someone, naturally, they get defensive. This hardly helps…instead,
it turns to a loud conversation where two people do their best to prove they’re
right and the other one is wrong. It’s not always that black and white…it’s
more likely you both have your points, but you’re both too stubborn to meet in
the middle. Approaching someone with compassion opens their hearts and minds.
Make someone realize you understand where they are coming from, and they will
be willing to see your side too. This gives room for clarification and
ultimately peace, when there is conflict.
Avoid finding excuses for your mess ups – Don’t be one of those people that would rather come up
with a ridiculous excuse than acknowledge weakness or a shortcoming. Acknowledging
your flaws isn’t fun, but if you don’t, you’ll continue seeing them in everyone
around you…a disloyal person may choose to see it as everyone being out to get
them instead of dealing with their own loyalty issues.
Do not abhor resentment – Resentment refers to the mental process of
repetitively replaying a feeling, and the events leading up to it, which goads
or angers us. In resentment, we tend to ‘remix’ the facts, amplify the hurts
and then re-experience and relive them in ways that affect us emotionally and
even spiritually in very destructive ways. Resentment births ‘unforgiveness’…it
makes us cling to a futile need to be "right", which overrides the
capacity to heal and be at peace with ourselves. The question is, would you
rather be right than have peace? Let it go…let the healing process begin. Resentment
gives you only illusions of strength. Instead, highlight and validate your real strength and power.
Avoid unsuccessful patterns – There is a process called re-creating the steps. Know
what hasn’t worked for you in the past. Learn from what caused the last
conflict. Know when you are about to repeat the pattern. Break the pattern. The
last time you yelled at him/her, how did that work out for you? And you want to
repeat it?
I speak
in the name of the Prince Of Peace, Jesus Christ to every turbulence rocking
the boat of your home and relationship…PEACE BE STILL
The
next constituent we’ll be talking about is Patience…somehow; we are beginning
to see how all these constituents are connected to be ONE FRUIT.
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