by Rose Murdock

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness,
and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."
Romans 14:17

Do you know what its like to walk around with a smile plastered on your face pretending that all is well when there is turmoil going on within you?  Especially when the inner turmoil is a result of the way your circumstances are going?  You know that that smile is a fake don’t you?  You know that it doesn’t represent true joy within.  Why? Because there’s no peace within.  In order to live a truly joyful life you must first have a peaceful life.  Joy grows in a peaceful heart.  To replace that fake smile with a genuine one you need to first address the inner nagging.

People often think that joy and peace will only come as a result of their circumstances going a certain way.  They will not be comforted until things work out in their life the way they want.  But there is a joy and peace within the Kingdom of God that you can live in right now, regardless of your circumstances.  In fact, this inner joy and peace can flourish to the point where it will affect your circumstances.  And when that happens, that’s true Kingdom living.  The church has gone from one extreme to the other.  On the one hand ignoring our circumstances and ‘living by faith’ and on the other hand accepting every hardship that comes our way as something we need to learn to live with for the rest of our lives.  But God’s way is neither extreme but a little of both.  His way is for you to grow in the fruit of the spirit and walk in the ways of the Kingdom to such an extent that it will affect your life outwardly and the lives of those around you.  And peace and joy are both fruits of the spirit that will help you to accomplish that.

How do you live this way?  To start with, you have the kind of peace that isn’t dependent upon your circumstances.  The apostle Paul wrote the following:

"…I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am.  I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance.  I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want."  Philippians 4:11-12 Amplified Bible

Paul had learned the secret to true peace and joy that was independent of whatever his circumstances in life were.  Whether things were going well or not, whether he had abundance or appeared to be lacking, he had learned a secret.  What was this secret?

He also wrote:

"Do not fret or have anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.  And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 Amplified Bible.

God’s peace will ‘mount guard’ over your heart and mind when you make the choice not to worry but to stay in prayer and thanksgiving concerning the troubling situation.  And your circumstances don’t have to change before you can enjoy this kind of peace.  Why is that?  Because this peace makes you ‘content with it’s earthly lot of whatever sort that is’.

Peace is the ability to remain content when presented with limitations and boundaries in your life.  With this kind of peace mounting guard you will not be striving for things to the point that you become discontent in the now.  You won’t be thinking that all will be well only when certain things change in your life, but you will be content now.  You won’t be lusting after more—always striving, always pushing, and always trying to get something you don’t have yet.  Too much ambition keeps us living in the future and unhappy with today.

We all know that ‘prayer changes things’ but prayer also helps you to remain steadfast, patient and full of God’s peace regardless of when, or even if, things ever change.  It doesn’t just give you strength to change things but it gives you peace to deal with and accept those things you need to so you can persevere through and not just wait for an escape.  This kind of peace is a vital part of our Christian life, and through this peace we can take the next step of Kingdom living—living a joyful life.

Jesus said,

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33.

God’s desire is for us to enjoy life.  Joy comes from a heart of peace that has the kind of contentment I described and joy is also something that we can live in independently of our circumstances.  Jesus said that in the world we would have tribulation but to be of good cheer (joy) because He has overcome the world.  Not only can we have peace no matter what our circumstances, but we can have joy as well.  How?  Because of what Jesus said.  He said, ‘these things have I spoken…that ye might have peace.’  We have peace through what He has said.

Peace comes through the words of Jesus, which bring you hope, and joy springs from that peace.  The hope of the promises of God becoming a reality brings joy.  But because of the fruits of peace and patience you don’t try to make those things happen apart from the ways of the Kingdom.  Patience is a key here.  Because of patience you can remain content with your current situation.  Out of the peace and patience and contentment springs hope and joy as you see the word of promise given to you by the Lord.  A word of healing, a word of deliverance, a word of restoration, a word of provision and abundance.  But you don’t have to wait for those things to occur in your circumstances before you have the joy of the Lord!

Hannah was full of sorrow and despair over not having a child but after Eli gave her a word that her prayer would be answered she was no longer sad.  The word of hope, the word of promise was enough to replace her sorrowful heart with joy. (1 Samuel 1:18).

Of course, you don’t just want to learn to ignore things to the point where you don’t ever care to see results in the physical world around you.  On the contrary, that’s why you’re here.  You’re here to bring His Kingdom into the natural world around you.  Remember Jesus taught us to pray, ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven.’   Yes we want to see the evidence of the Kingdom in our world around us.  In our lives, in our circumstances and in the lives of those around us.  But we can’t bypass the avenue through which the Lord brings it.  I think too often we want the Lord to do ‘a miracle’ that bypasses all the avenues He has established which bring us His promises.  Sometimes He does that.  But we can’t demand that out of Him.  God’s way, the way of the Kingdom, is for you to learn to walk in His peace with contentment and acceptance, not striving and not lusting.  Sometimes you may simply need to receive His word of promise as the hope that it is and rejoice with contentment and you’ll discover that as your attitude changes your circumstances didn’t need to.  You may have thought that you were lacking when you were simply lusting.  You may have thought that you needed something when it was right in front of you all along and you were blinded to it for some reason.  Jesus said the Kingdom of God is within you.  All you need is already within you.

Are you living the joyful life?  Or are you striving so hard for your faith to bring you something or to some place that you are living a discontented, empty and unfulfilled life?  Are your dreams always out there in the future somewhere even while you claim that you have them now?  Our God is a now God.  And I believe He’s calling His church to a greater understanding of what it means to follow Him.  You can trust Him.  He hasn’t forgotten about you.  Simply remember the grain of wheat that falls in the ground and dies.  Once it does it springs up, producing much fruit.  Learn to live in peace during the dying process and the joy of a resurrected life will be yours!