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"These things I have spoken
unto you, that in me ye might have peace…" We’ve seen from our prior "Pacific Peace" article that we can have peace regardless of our circumstances. Remember our definition of ‘pacific’--‘an end to all conflict.' When we are having a problem we want the conflict to end! We want the problem to be solved! But we saw that we don’t have to wait for our problem to be solved before we can have the peace of God in our lives. And I would go so far as to say that if we want peace, or answers from God, to come and solve our problem, then we must first of all bear the fruit of peace in our hearts and minds. Again, the way to get peace is not by having our problem solved. But our problems will truly begin to be solved with the God-kind of solutions once we are aware of how to have peace with God no matter what. And once we value our peace with God over and above everything else, then we are in a position to hear God’s wisdom concerning our situation. Then we will be able to trust God with patience, faith and love and see the deliverance that He has promised. Jesus Himself said that in the world we would have tribulation (John 16:33). And this is the true test of our faith in Him. The challenge is not to lose the peace we have in our hearts and minds while dealing with our circumstances. Having peace doesn’t mean we’ve learned how to successfully ignore our situation while we pray and believe God for it to be repaired. We’re not talking about denying or ignoring anything, but rather how to deal with what we have to deal with, how to start from where we are in order to come to a place of healing and deliverance, and how to maintain our peace throughout it all. For example, if you only have so much money in your bank account and you have more bills than money then you can’t ignore the fact that there’s not enough money there. You have to deal with the situation while still maintaining the peace of God in your heart. If you are in need of healing and you have certain restrictions on you as a result of a disease that has affected your body, then you can’t ignore or pretend that the problem is not there. You have to go on about your life and do what you have to do the best you can, while still maintaining the peace of God in your heart. This doesn’t mean that you’re not trusting God to bring you through to healing or deliverance. But it means that you’re not intolerant, bitter or angry about your current circumstance. I think we often cry out to God for deliverance or healing from a heart of intolerance, fear or anger. What we’re really saying when we do that is that we will not allow ourselves to have any peace or joy in our lives until our problem is solved. And it’s not that God doesn’t want to heal or deliver us, but it’s that He’s trying to instill in us a spiritual characteristic of learning to live in His peace and joy regardless of what is going on around us. This characteristic is for our own eternal good. He is preparing us for life beyond this earth (as well as showing us how we can best enjoy life while we’re here!) Again we need to see the whole picture here. On the one hand we want to understand that true peace will not come from our problem being solved. But on the other hand we don’t want to ignore the problem and become depressed or even irresponsible. These may seem like two opposite responses but in reality there is a common issue here. In both cases we’re trying to get out of dealing with something. In the first case we’re full of stress and anxiety and want the issue resolved now. In the second case we’ve shut down and become depressed and have given up. In this second category are also those who have become somewhat angry or sarcastic towards God and as a result they refuse to do anything to try and resolve the situation. It’s these responses of anxiety, fear, depression, anger etc. that God is trying to expose in us so we can repent of them. He wants to see our peace, joy, faith, love and hope shining through during the midst of troubles. There is an eternal benefit to this. We’ve got to go through. We’ve got to stay on the path the Lord has for us. Now if your problem comes from being on a path that the Lord hasn’t put you on then get off that path! But if you’re on the path the Lord has put you on then there may be some situations you have to go through while on that path. Quit trying to get out of it, just go through it. But go through it while full of His peace, love, joy and faith. I understand the frustration that comes from not being able to solve a problem yourself. When we feel like our own efforts aren’t accomplishing anything that can bring a frustration that leads to anger or depression. It’s kind of like the two-year-old who wants his own way and despite his best efforts, he’s not going to get what he wants. He’s learning (hopefully) how to deal with that frustration. And in reality, the more he throws a fit the less chance there is that he’ll ever get what he wants. He may not understand now, but he will understand the more he grows and matures. And spiritually, we don’t want to stay in the place of the "terrible two’s" where we continually throw a fit and yell and scream at God because things aren’t going the way we think they should. We want to trust Him and grow up and bear the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. It’s important, however, for us to grow in our intimacy with the Lord so that we will not be deceived. We want to grow in our understanding of truth as well. We want to understand what God has promised us and how He desires to bless us. We need to see Him for who He is, as the God of Love, so that we will not conclude from our troubles that God is punishing us, is angry at us, or enjoys seeing us in a place of turmoil. We don’t want to think that since "God is teaching us" something through this time of trouble that we must accept the problem and not try to solve it. God can be our Teacher and Deliverer in the midst of a problem, but that doesn’t necessarily mean He’s the author of the problem. When situations arise on the path that we’re on, we want to deal with them in a biblical way. That’s what will get us through. But of course we don’t want to get off the path in order to avoid going through the situation. And we don’t want to sit down and say we’ve come far enough on the path if God is leading us further. We also don’t want to camp out in the middle of the problem and think that we’re supposed to stay in this place until God moves us out. We often put the responsibility of our solutions off on Him when He wants us to learn how to resolve these things biblically and learn to come through with the tools He’s given to us. |
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